Backcatalog - Overkill, Ramzi Aburedwan

Ramzi Aburedwan

Reflections Of Palestine

Label: Riverboat Records / World Music Network
Released: 2012
Genre: Traditional Palestinian

The same Ramzi Abu Redwan photographed as a bot throwing a rock at an Israeli tank in 1987, the image sparked an uprising. His grandfather was displaced in 1948 from his home to a refugee camp. Ramzi started to play when he was in his teens, and has switched tactics from hurtling rocks to promoting peace.

The music here starts out with a track whose title translate as Exile (Rahil). So there's obviously some of the youth left in the music - even if it doesn't sound angry. It sounds almost sad at times. The rest of the album is laced with traditional sounds, sound you might find coming out of a jazz bar, and the thing that very musicians can do: a kind of universal sound that's rooted nowhere. It's an excellent instrumental album.

Honestly, as I listen to this, and as I learned the artists story, it reaffirmed what I've always felt about music - it transcends other emotions to help heal, cleanse, focus, and bring us towards a batter emotional state. It certainly helped Ramzi, and we now have a light, melodic, though not quite ambient, body of work to share. Worth picking up.

Overkill

The Killing Kind

Label: Steamhammer (originally on Concrete Records)
Released: 1996
Genre: Thrash Metal

Not quite moving to the opposite side of the spectrum, not entirely, but this is definitely harsher. At the height of their mid 90s style, which does deviate away from pure thrash metal into almost melodic medal at times, some even put it under groove-metal (a genre title I thoroughly ignore).

Compared to the previous album (W.F.O.) it's almost a return to form. The guitars crunch faster, and the drums pound harder. But it still slows down compared to some of the very early stuff. Blitz even attempts a kind of soft-melody style of singing, which his voice is absolutely not suited for. Still, compared to a lot of the stuff they put out in the 1990s, this is amongst the best of it. If you have to pick one post-Horrorscope album I recommend this one (well, at least I pick this one until we get to the mid-2000s where Overkill returns to full thrash-form).

Backcatalog - David J, Jackyl, Overkill

Jackyl

Push Comes To Shove

Label: Geffen Records
Released: 1994
Genre: Hard Rock, Blues Rock

Jackyl are a band that probably could have been a great band, at least until they fired up that chainsaw. Taking after the styles of Southern Rock and Hard Rock tinged Blues (ala ZZ Top), Jackyl have a great blues heavy rock'n'roll sound. More evident on their first album than here (their second album). But that Chainsaw gimmick both shot them to the top of the rock-charts and radio-play, and probably killed their career of anyone taking them seriously as a music act ever again. Pop Music....

Push Comes To Shove is a solid piece of work, not as daring, loud, or bold as their opening salvo, but still - this is good music. Even with that silly mustache on Jesse James Dupree's face (actually, as weird as it is, it's a style that kind of works). If your only exposure to Jackyl is "the chainsaw song" from their debut album, and you like your blues a little heavier and louder - do yourself a favor and take another look at Jackyl, they really do have a solid southern-blues sound gone wonderfully metal.

Overkill

Fuck You! And Then Some

Label: MefaForce Records
Released: 1996
Genre: Thrash Metal

This isn't an album, it's a collection of EPs put all into one nice little package, because the tracks on here are pretty hard to find individually, long out of print live EPs, some demos, and one heck of a cover. Ta

First up is a studio cover b-side, and five live tracks from, the "Fuck You" EP this takes its name from. The title track and cover song from the Subhumans, showing some solid punk roots in the thrash scene. And a bunch of live tracks from the tour for Taking Over, their second album. They have always had a solid live act, and this is a good recording too, not some badly done hack job with levels pushed too high.

Shoved in the middle are two more live tracks from 1990, one track from their fourth album and a Black Sabbath cover of Hole In The Sky. If anything their live act is even more polished. A good little additional bonus for this compilation release.

Next we get the very first Overkill EP, a collection of Demos. Four tracks that started it all. Two would be re-recorded for their debut album, one left over for their second album, and one left in the dust - personally I think they re-recorded the wrong track for their second album. The lost song, The Answer, is a massive slow number that foreshadows things put out much later.

From a collector's point of view - especially one that didn't get these when they were first put out in the early and mid-80s - this is a pretty sweet compilation to pick up.

David J

I'll Be Your Chauffeur (Promo Single)

Label: RCA Records
Released: 1990
Genre: Pop Rock, Soft Rock

After being part of the absolute start of the Gothic Rock and the Romance period in England's music scene, and then moving onto Love And Rockets - an innovating and excellent punk-pop-rock band David J put out a solo album in 1990. This was a 3-track promo released to radios for it.

Normally, I try and only review things that can be moderately easily obtained, even if only used. Since this contains only three album tracks from a still in print release, I thought I'd give some thoughts on it.

If I heard any of the top-40 soft rock crap on this without Knowing it was David J I'd slap the first person who said this was his work. It's a complete disappointment compared to his previous work. To be sure I went back and listened to the full album - and yeah, there's a reason it gets almost no play from my collection. It's really just generic soft-rock, not even innovative. I think he phoned that album in.

Backcatalog - Darkel, Overkill, Rough Guide To Celtic Lullabies

The first Backcatalog Edition, I expect two to three albums to be the norm going forward, two if one's a double disc set. I'll make it up as I go really...

Darkel

Darkel

Label: Astralwerks
Released: 2006
Genre: Downtempo, Trip-Hop

I picked this up at a tent sale. I'm not going to say this is a bad album, because it's not. But it's decidedly middle of the road in that kind of major way that makes one want to condemn it. A mid 2000s release that would have been buried and killed were it released only six or seven years earlier. But then, and now six years later, it comes across as interestingly 'old school'.

Darkel is one half of AIR, a future-jazz/downtempo/ambient duo active since the late 90s. AIR is good, they've got a kind of experimental quality that never lets it get either out of hand or stale. Darkel is Dunkel's solo effort (and his only one to date). Like I said, it's not a bad album, but I'm glad his primary work is with other musicians, because this lacks a certain quality - namely the quality that lets you remember what it is you're listening to. Middle of the road...

Overkill

Taking Over

Label: Atlantic
Released: 1987
Genre: Thrash Metal

 The second album from one of the original East Coast thrash metal bands back in the 80s. Very hard to find in any format, and I'm not sure I didn't end up with a bootleg here anyway... This is one of those albums that even way back when I knew of it, and had a taped version of it from a friend, but never managed to get my own copy. Most of their albums weren't that hard to find, so. We've got Taking Over. After their first ming boggling awesome release (Feel The Fire) and the stride they hit after this album came out (Under The Influence; The Years Of Decay; Horrorscope) I have to wonder, what the hell happened here?

It's great 80s thrash. It just doesn't really carry as well as the albums that surround it. Part of me doesn't wonder if this wasn't just hashed out as a way to keep touring. I love it in the way I love all thrash-metal albums - which is to say unconditionally. But I were forced to leave a few by the side of the road, I'd toss this one and defend the rest of my Overkill collection with fervor. It's a stop gap between their first and third albums - a definite case of Sophomore Slump that afflicts so many bands it's a cliche.

 The Rough Guide To Celtic Lullabies

Bonus CD: Gráinne Hambly (Irish Harp Lullabies)

Label: World Music Network
Released: 2012
Genre: Celtic, Folk, Children's Songs

 I don't actually have a need for lullabies, at least not in the capacity of needing to play them for a small child. However, I do like harp music (the harp is a fantastic instrument that produces some amazing sounds), and I like Celtic music, and I like light ambient sounds to work to sometimes. And this is all three. While the words are unmistakably (even when can't understand them) lullabies designed in a way to put small children to sleep (or at least calm them down), the melodies are light, and airy, and the good kind of music to have quietly fill the backspaces in a room. The Rough Guides are more coherent themes (instead of wide open regions) tend to gel better, everything here fits together because it's all from the same genre and from the same approach to the genre.

The second CD is, being a fan of the harp, the better of the two in my opinion. It's all gorgeous, soft, sounds. Between both discs you get 26 really good songs. So, this week ends on an up, if quiet, note.

New Releases 7/31 - Testament, Sinsect

Changing up the blog output just a little bit this week, instead of a Sunday-Wednesday post. Tuesdays will feature New Releases, Thursdays will feature Backcatalog Additions, Sundays will continue to be Sunday Morning Blues. Not sure if the change will bring better reviews, but I'm hoping it will.

New Releases From 7/31

Sinsect

Broken Heroes Vol. Three

Label: Self Released (Bandcamp Site)
Genre: Noise, Industrial, Ambient

The third in the Broken Heroes series. With each volume of three tracks Sinsect has taken his music into darker and slightly noisier places. Vol. Three keeps going down the same hole, this one is a very dark set of songs. While still the same kind of power-noise/industrial Sinsect is known for, they also veer towards a very dark ambient sound. Additionally the three tracks have a bit of a theme to their naming, with loss being the overall scheme of things. While I enjoyed the first two volumes, it's volume three that feels the most coherent, and is the best of the three I think. The progression is like walking down a path, deeper into woods that are growing darker with each note.

Testament

Dark Roots Of Earth

Label: Nuclear Blast

Genre: Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal

The first time I put this album on for a spin I had to double check it was the new one, and that I hadn't accidentally put on one of their late 80s/early 90s albums. I haven't really checked in with Testament in a long time and wasn't sure how their sound had evolved. It hasn't, not terribly much. Which is both a good thing, I like their sound as it was, and slightly jarring as the new record sounds so close to their older stuff.

But, after a few listens the songs are simply rehashed versions from Souls Of Black or Practice What You Preach, nor are they mere continuations of the death-metally sounding stuff from Low. It's a new record, to be judged on it's own merit. Testament still has it's chops - solid thrash metal with visits into the grumbly mess of death metal. It's a pretty good album for metal fans and more solid proof that 80s thrash can last the ages (if you're a good enough band) without needing many changes.

Between Testament and Overkill you can get all the solid thrash you need both old and new. And I love that about them. So what does stand out here to set it apart? Well, three tracks have gotten me to pause and tap along to the rhythm; Rise Up, Native Blood, and True American Hate. Each of these pounds out a catchy rhythm, and gives me that band-your-head feeling I love so much.

A good album, a good band, and a great "new old school" feeling to it. I may have to go back and pick up the Limited Edition version with the bonus tracks and DVD extras. . .

Week Of 7/24 - Synthpop, Modern Classical, Punk, Metal, Vietnamese Music

This week I add a glaring omission from my library (well, finally update from faded cassette), find some newish Snythpop and preview some cool upcoming music.

New Releases:
Passion Pit
Gossamer
Label: Columbia Records / Frenchkiss Records
Released: 7/24 2012
Genre: Synthpop

I picked this up after hearing a few tracks in the records store, after not really finding anything else I wanted this week. It's a very 'now' take on the cross between pop music and "indie rock". Which doesn't mean it's bad, it's not actually, but it's also a record full of very interchangeable songs. Nothing really pops out at me as a Stand Out, a few tracks could be singles (indeed one is - see Bonus Tracks below). But there's nothing more to it than that. A very non confrontational release, nice rhythms, poppy tunes, a little more synth than rock in it. I like it, I'm sure I'll come around to it with some regularity when I want some relatively harmless background music with little variation or surprises in it.

Adding To The Backcatalog:

Biohazard
Mata Leão
Label: Warner Bros.
Released: 1996
Genre: Punk, Hardcore, Metal

 Another Biohazard release, I followed them briefly in the early 1990s (until now I only ever actually bought their second album Urban Discipline). So filling in some holes in a band I didn't dislike but at the time I had little budget for music and picked releases with extreme care (or simply, whatever was cheapest). Going back and finding this, a later release from after I really stopped following the band, was a great addition to my hardcore-metal area. Biohazard are a great band, not quite Heavy Metal (especially in the late 90s when Nu-Metal was taking over), not quite punk, with a dash of rap-style vocals for good measure (an early lead into the rap-metal genre). This album is great thrash, seriously picking up a punk social influence, a very hardcore sound with heavy everything. If you want some metal that isn't the same old same old find some Biohazard.

Mortal Kombat Original Soundtrack
Label: TVT Records
Released: 1995
Genre: Metal, Industrial, House, Ambient

I think I picked this up the instant it came out, I wore out the tape, and by the time I got around to updating my library fully to CD it was way out of print. I kept an eye out for it, hoping to find it without too great an expense, which I finally did. TVT Records was not a typical label to choose for a soundtrack, and it shows on the choices - because no actual "record executive" attached to a movie would think of adding any of these guys: KMFDM, Type O Negative, Gravity Kills, Napalm Death, Fear Factory, Sister Machine Gun, Bile, GZR, Utah Saints, Orbital... - especially not all together. It ranges from death metal to ambient, a couple of tracks from the movie score round it out. Truly more soundtracks need to be put in the hands of small labels. Possibly one of the best soundtracks ever released.

The Rough Guide To The Music Of Vietnam
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2007
Genre: Vietnamese Traditional

The Rough Guide that introduces us to contemporary Vietnamese artists, doing both modern and classical Vietnamese folk music. It's really excellent, the whole album flows like most Rough Guides don't. I think a little more care was put into track order than is normal for these compilations. I have yet to really get into music from Vietnam, the artists are a little harder to find in the US (unlike modern J-Pop and K-Pop). But This is a good start, gives me some names and albums to look for, and I think I may try to see if I can acquire more in the future. One thing that immediately catches my attention is it's very similar to some Chinese music I've picked up in style and rhythm. But it's a little more stripped down, brought to the essentials of the sounds and harmonies, not less complex but certainly less busy, the focus is more on the instrument and individual artist, a little more melodic in execution. Just all around excellent music to have on hand.

Bonus Tracks:

Passion Pit
Take A Walk
Label: Columbia
Released: 7/24 2012
Genre: Synthpop

A 2-Track promotional 7" Single, given away as a promo item when you purchased Gossamer. The title track is also the first track off the Gossamer album released with it. The B-Side is Almost There, a non-album track that isn't bad, but you can tell it's leftover material that didn't make the cut to the full album. If you're a die-hard fan you could probably easily track this record down. Otherwise, there's not much to miss.

Unwoman
The Fires I Started - Album Pre-Order Preview
Label: self released (unwoman.bandcamp.com)
Released: July 2012
Genre: Modern Classical

If you contributed to the Kickstarter, or go Pre-Order the album now you can pick up a nice 5-track Preview of the upcoming new release. And this album, if these five tracks are even a small indication, will kick some serious ass. Unwoman has grown, advanced, and learned over the past ten or so years and this will be her best effort to date. Truly a movement forward in sound and composition, her voice is stronger here, the music more powerful, the whole thing comes together nicely. And that's just five tracks... definitely an album worth getting (either now and get a test to tide you over or upon full release - doesn't matter but definitely one worth adding). And if you're ordering the Digital Album she's practically throwing it at you free if you only pay the minimum asking price ( but you should pay more...)


Next Week:
The first of many Overkill albums as I fill in the holes in my collection (mostly very early stuff that's been hard to find on CD), the new Testament & new Sinsect, some downtempo stuff from the mid 00s, and a collection of Celtic Lullabies, Listen Hard!

Week Of 7/17 - Psychobilly, Reggae, Punk, Metal, Trad. Indian

Keeping it eclectic this week, and with little fanfare:

New Releases:

Jimmy Cliff
Rebirth
Label: Universal Music
Released: 7/17 2012
Genre: Reggae

The first album from this reggae master in seven years. I recently became a fan of Jimmy and I gotta say, this is a great album. His voice is awesome, a bit high pitched, but still amazing. It does contain a few of the tracks from the Record Store Day single, which is good. If you missed that you missed some awesome Clash and Rancid covers. It's quite a few tracks, all of them pretty short. Nothing rambles on, he cuts it short and quick - this is where punk got some of it's timing from. Definitely an album to go get, some great mellow reggae.

Adding To The Backcatalog:

Biohazard
No Holds Barred - Live In Europe
Label: Roadrunner Records
Released: 1997
Genre: Heavy Metal, Hardcore Punk

A straight off the board, unedited, live set from the hardcore-metal-punk band of the 90s. Pure thrash sitting right here, unrelenting. The early 80s attitude cut with a late 90s sensibility. Pulling from every album up to that point, it's a non-stop hour of hardcore. Caveat - it's pretty much just for fans of Biohazard. Some of the sound quality isn't great, no new tracks, or remixes or anything. Just a live show. What a live album should be really.

Dedashish Bhattacharya
O Shakuntala!
Label: Riverboat Records / World Music Network
Released: 2009
Genre: Traditional Indian, Modern Indian

Not content to just play classical music on traditional instruments, Debashish invented three new kinds of lap slide guitar and has mastered them. It shows on this recording, a slide guitar style to make any blues artist a little green with jealousy, playing classical Indian musics as well as some original recordings. This is pretty much a solo effort on his part but it's amazing. It's also very quiet and soft, and good for taking a nice nap to, or meditation. Very relaxing.

HorrorPops
Hell Yea!
Label: Hellcat Records
Released: 2004
Genre: Psychobilly, Rockabilly

Back up the other side of the energy scale. HorrorPops deliver a knock out of an album here. Their first studio effort, it's good in its own right. But once you compare it to the later two albums you hear them not quite together yet. Still putting their sound under them this is a bit of stock-standard psychobilly. And, well, it's good, some real power is emerging here. Definitely a must have for psychobilly fans, or just plain rock and swing fans too. This is straight up enough to fit onto a whole range of dance floors.

Iron Maiden
The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg (10")
Label: EMI Records
Released: 2006
Genre: Heavy Metal

Been sitting on this 10" single since it's release. It varies from the CD Single in that the b-side is two different tracks from the Radio-1 Sessions. The CD contained a massive rendition of Hollowed By Thy Name; this has The Trooper and Run To The Hills. The title track isn't the greatest cut from the album (A Matter Of Life And Death), and kind of drones on. The B-Sides are strictly for die-hard fans only. This is a fan item, I'm a huge fan so... of course I got it. Otherwise, it's just more Iron Maiden.

Hidden Tracks:
Unter Null
I Don't Belong Here
Label: Self-Released (www.Unter-Null.net)
Unter Null is putting out a new album soon, and this was put out to subscribers of her mailing list as a teaser. An instrumental track that goes very dark and rhythmic. A perfect extension of her past her, this one slows things down just a little, and grinds into the air with the same kind of audio-perfection you get from Noise Unit's sound. A fantastic teaser and you should go visit the website and fund the new album. You can also pick up this track by backing her next album on SellABand.

Next Week:
Some music from Vietnam, a long lost soundtrack finds its way back into my collection, some more hardcore from Biohazard, and some brand new Synthpop, plus a few surprises.

Week Of 7/3 - Symphonic Metal, A Capella, Hip-Hop, Clasical (Modern)

Late this week, due to a number of factors, partially just got overly busy and behind. Without any more fanfare:

New & Recent Releases:

Delain
We Are The Others
Label: Sesnory (Laser's Edge)
Released: 7/3 2012
Genre: Metal, Symphonic Metal

Symphonic Metal likes to the toe the line between the heavy thrash/death metal sounds and light classical sounds. Both Classical and Metal can be extremely hard sounding, between the crunch of guitars and the power of a good string section the blending is basically made for each other. Yet, most symphonic metal bands like to waffle back and forth, which is why I don't listen to much of it. Delain found a nice middle ground here, it doesn't swoop back and forth between the two, it blends them into a pretty cool middle ground - guitars and violins I'd guess (though the symphonic part is entirely electronic, organic sound though. Charlotte's voice is good, she doesn't soar into highs that usually make me roll my eyes - a rock voice instead of operatic one. And they very sparingly use male death-metal singing, another bonus. So, solid album, solid sounding band, good composition, and very listenable. I recommend it for rock and metal fans alike.

Murs w/ Foundation
Yumiko: Curse Of The Merch Girl
Label: self-released (http://www.devilsdue.net/yumiko/)
Released: July / Late June 2012
Genre: Hip-Hop

The album is a tag along to go with the 124 page graphic novel, and aren't available separately to my knowledge. Which isn't so bad, the graphic novel is decent enough, and helps explain the story in the songs in more detail. The concept is pretty simple: jilted love. The execution, musically, is pretty standard hip-hop fair, some of the language was a little more vulgar than I go in for, but not overly so.  It's a solid piece of production, and some pretty decent story telling through music.

Adding To The Archives:

The Bobs
I Brow Club
Label: Rounder Records
Released: 1997
Genre: A Capella, Pop

The Bobs have always been an interesting group to me. I think they're usually at their best doing A Cappella covers honestly, the I Brow Club confirms that a little bit. Not quite funny enough to get a chuckle, not quite serious enough for me to enjoy the harmonies. It's kind of musical humor gone wrong honestly. They certainly have some serious talent, always have. It just feels like they kind of ran out of ideas here. They have many better albums to choose from.

The Bobs
Plugged
Label: Rounder Records
Released: 1995
Genre: A Capella

Speaking of better albums, there's the previous release from them, Plugged. Which does include some accompaniment (in the form of toy drums) and voice effects (to get 'guitar' sounds). But the song selection is much better. This one sounds like a solid extension of the album before that, without retreading ground. This one is a genuinely fun album, and I definitely recommend finding it and picking it up if you like A Capella groups, or even if you don't this is a good place to start with on that front.

Hans Zimmer
Inception musical score
Label: Reprise Records
Released: 2010
Genre: modern classical, classical

Hans Zimmer knows soundscapes, and Inception is a movie built of big expansive ideas, and the music follows suit. I don't normally go in for musical scores to movies, if I want something ambient I know plenty of musicians who create ambient works not attached to specific imagery. But, we found this one on sale, and the sounds in the movie really are amazing. The soundtrack stands on its own quite nicely, everything here builds or works with tension of some kind. If you're a table top gamer (RPGs) then this is a great collection of sound to have on hand. It's good enough to put on and just listen through as well.

Next Week:
More classical (Beethoven), new music from Serj Tankian and Ego Likeness, and an old BT single I found in a bin looking for a home (ah, that old school rave music...)

Week Of 5/1 - Metal, Rock, Industrial, Pop

Bit of a mix this week, also, a number of singles instead of full albums added in, but pretty much the entire lot is new releases...

New Releases:

The Adventures Of
Adventures (Free Facebook Songs)
Label: Transmission Galactic
Released: 5/1 2012
Genre: Rock

The story here is Tori Amos started a new label to sign bands she likes and wants to expose to the world, and this is the first band she signed. The two tracks are free on Facebook, and the full album is available in the US right now. The two tracks are, well, different. It's definitely a flavor of rock, little blues, little punk, little everything else. I'm immediately reminded of the Dresden Dolls in style, thought not musical-style, but approach style. Very different kind of stuff here, and I think I'll be checking out the whole album in the near future.

Nora Jones
...Little Broken Hearts
Label: Blue Note
Released: 5/1 2012
Genre: Pop, Rock

Norah teamed up with Dangermouse on this album and came out with something very different, which is standard for her. Her voice is still the driving force behind it, a little jazzy, a little bluesy, a bit pop, all very smooth and seductive. Some of the songs sound a little bit like parts left over from Dangermouses Broken Bells effort, but only a little bit. The music itself is pretty stripped down, unintrusive to the vocal parts of the songs. It's a fantastic album all the way through, a kind of quiet subtle music that draws you in and makes you stop to just listen for a bit. A good album to sit back and relax to for a short while.

Sinsect
Broken Heroes Volume One
Label: Self-Released (  http://noise.sinsect.com/ )
Released: 5/1 2012
Genre: Industrial

The first in a series of singles leading up to the next album release, this is a three track EP to kick it off. All instrumentals with some voice samples from movies. While it's noisy, it's not as crunchy and thumpy (totally technical terms) as Buglife (his previous full length album), more of a slower paced kind of grind to it. It feels like a more deliberate pace, making it a little daker, and possibly a little heavier. Sinsect is excellent at creating heavy ambient soundscapes.

Skip The Foreplay
Nightlife
Label: Epitaph Records
Released: 5/1 2012
Genre: Hardcore, Death Metal

I picked this up slightly on a whim, because the cover said "Metal + Screamo + Dubstep" on it with a sticker - and sometimes I just can resist the utterly stupid advertising gimmicks of music. It's basically death metal, possibly just growling hardcore punk. They add a twist with a DJ sliding in mostly well placed dubstep drops and wobbly bass. It turns out that pretty much any kind of metal and dubstep are a pretty good fit for each other (see Korn's latest album for more examples). It's not a terribly exciting album, taken as a whole, but it has its moments and a few tracks tossed into a playlist to keep a party (or club) moving are doable. I doubt I'll ever listen to this straight through again, still a good enough addition I'll cherry pick the tracks as needed. It doesn't ever slow down, or lighten up, which makes as pure a hardcore album as you can really get.

Adding To The Collection:

Primal Rock Rebellion
No Place Like Home
Label: Spinefarm Records
Released: February 2012
Genre: Heavy Metal

This is a 10" Single I digitized. The A-Side is taken from the album (Awoken Broken), reviewed a few weeks ago. And strangely, taken out of the context of the full album manages to become a straight forward rock song. The vocals don't seem too over reaching, or experimental at that. The full albums lack of vocal cohesiveness is not here in these two tracks - granted it's only two songs. But still, both of them come of consistently hard-rock. It's with these two songs I hope that these two guys settle down a put out some more music in this vein.

Next Week:
Lots of House and pop-techno from David Guetta, some heavy industrial from Unter Null to balance that, and a little bit of modern folk from Sara Watkins so I don't drown in synthesizers.

Week of 4/17 - Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Gothic Rock, Trip-Hop, A Cappella

This week I rock out in various levels of loudness...

New and Recent Releases:

Hydrogyn
Private Sessions
Label: Rapid Fire Global Music
Released: 4/17 2012
Genre: Hard Rock

Latest release from the mid-west hard rockers, this album isn't quite a hard as some previous efforts, there's less thrash elements in it. Which isn't to say it's gone soft rock, it's still a solid piece of hard rock, almost metal in some cases. Julie's voice continues to be top-notch in the genre, very few singers match her pure-rock voice. Definitely a vocalist that comfortable in the genre, keeping it all on track. The special bonus-release comes with a hidden cover of Heaven's On Fire, a great cover that shows Hydrogyn have the ability to keep true to a cover and still add their own signature. I love the energy in their songs, definitely one of the better hard-rock acts (with male or female vocals) on the scene today. A pure no-holds-barred take on rock'n'roll.

Primal Rock Rebellion
Awoken Broken
Label: Spinefarm Records
Released: 4/17 2012 (US) (March 2012 in Europe)
Genre: Heavy Metal

I actually had this one for a little bit, picking it up upon release in Europe direct from What Records, but held onto it waiting for the US debut. Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith (one of my favorite bands ever) and Bassist/Vocalist Mikee Goodman of Sikth (a band I don't like at all) teamed up to produce this... And I can't tell if it's genius or trash, or maybe a little of both. The music is awesome, Adrian and Mikee make an awesome team with their respective instruments. From that point of view the album is a monster of ingenuity and power. It's Mikee's vocals that drive me a little crazy. He's actually a pretty good singer - he just can't settle on a style, either singing, screaming, shouting, growling, or whatever, every song changes up way too often. Which is what eventually drags this album down a little bit into the mud. Were it not for that, this would easily be one of the better modern metal albums I've heard.

Hydrogen Skyline
Echoes In Retrospect
Label: self-released (www.hydrogenskyline.com)
Released: Early 2012
Genre: Gothic Rock, Ethereal

Debut full album from the Colorado based group, it's very light and airy, almost. They don't forget the importance of a good fuzzy guitar in rock, but it's definitely the lighter side of Gothic Rock, less punk-rock loud and more Bauhaus ephemeral. Like taking the best of the 80s batcave scene and mixing it with the best of the 90s electronic-goth scene. Like the single, I'm deeply reminded of Sky Cries Mary, which is a nice thing, rarely does anyone capture that mix of heavy and soft like Hydrogen Skyline have here. Warning though, if you listen to this while tired the lead vocals will put you right to sleep, her voice is smooth and clear, making it over the music without shouting at you. I definitely hope they continue down this road in the future.

Adding To The Collection:

Hungry Lucy
To Kill A King
Label: Alfa-Matrix
Released: 2005
Genre: Trip-Hop, Darkwave

Most of my exposure to Hungry Lucy was off this album, so I figured I'd start here now that I've gotten around to actually adding albums to my collection (also conveniently their debut album). I am not disappointed with a full album of listening, very dark and sensual. Crista Belle's vocal style manages to be clear and loud while still feeling soft and intimate - a testament to production quality as well as her singing. Blending late 90s Trip-Hop styles with Goth/Darkwave environments has created an amazing collection of songs. The album itself tells a, more or less, complete narrative story, and blends so well that I'll often forget to differentiate songs while listening.

Pandora Celtica
Dog Party (In The Key Of Swinging Cats)
Label: self-released (www.pandoraceltica.com)
Released: 2009
Genre: A Cappella

The debut release from PC, you can tell that by the time they got into a studio they'd be singing together a decent amount of time. A collection of sea chanties and battle songs, not a surprising move there. One thing I really like about Pandora Celtica is the harmony. No one voice runs away with a song, leaving the others to the background. Too many A Cappella groups feel the need for a lead-vocal and the vocal-band behind them. A good group is a fully harmonized collection - and that's what this group is. The subject matter, though, is a bit specialized to filking, theme parties and conventions, which is not a bad thing at all. It's just not an album to just put on in the background, unless you're into into that, then it is.

Next Week:
I've loaded up a massive 61-track compilation in the genre of "kitchen sink" (little bit of everything), as such I've only added the weeks new release - some very... well, different hip-hop, and an Industrial EP from last month I almost forgot I downloaded.

Week Of 3/27 - Metal and EBM

Delay of Post due to illness. Right on the heels of attending a convention I became sick with the flu, which severely curtailed my music listening ability - much less posting. Last weeks Sunday Morning Blues is bumped to this coming Sunday, and this post is many hours late.... On with the show...

A lot of Live music this week, several new releases, and almost completely Heavy Metal.

New Releases:

Iron Maiden
En Vivo!
Label: EMI Records
Released: 3/20 2012
Genre: Heavy Metal



A double disc live release... Iron Maiden are now one of those bands that can simply Go On Tour. Which means I tend to skip a lot of Live Album releases - after all I only need so many live versions of classics from any Maiden era. But when they put out a live set from the latest album I'm inclined to pick it up - because Iron Maiden are amazing live. Truly a great show, and I like to hear how the new material sounds with a crowd, recorded live with no studio mixing. En Vivo! is the live tour from the Final Frontier album, which was epic in scale. Only five of the tracks from The Final Frontier made it onto this live set, which is only 17 tracks on 2 discs, though it still tracks in just under two hours. I would have liked to see the thing push the limits of the CDs some more, each could easily fit another track, a full 2 hours of live music would have been nice. Still, the boys still have it, the songs aren't hacked and hashed live, nor are they precision replicas of the studio. It's a live show, and it is good. If you're a big Iron Maiden fan you'll probably want this.

Overkill
The Electric Age
Label: Entertainment One
Released: 3/20 2012
Genre: Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal


I always love the release of a new Overkill album, through the 2000s they seem to just be getting harder and heavier, which is good after a faltering 90s (which I mostly don't own, though I may fix that in the future). The Electric Age picks up right where Iron Bound left off: pounding the audience into the pavement. The riffs are hard, Blitz still belts out some of the best thrash lyrics around, and everything is overall a grinding testament to the sonic assault that is unfiltered thrash metal. Nothing on Electric Age quite catches me like the last album though, it's an epically awesome album that gets better with every listen, but it's not immediately catchy. Just amazingly good. You can't be a metal fan without adding Overkill to your discography, and while it's not Overkill's best album, it is still leaps and bounds above most metal bands, in any day.

Adding To The Collection:

Hydrogyn
Strip 'Em Blind, Live
Label: Destroy All Records
Released: 2007
Genre: Heavy Metal, Hard Rock


Hydrogyn weren't around all that long before they had to the opportunity to put out a live album, so it's a short set. Only one track from the future album Deadly Passions (and the bonus track at that) is in the set, so no previews for the audience. It's a solid (almost) forty minute set, with a bonus non-live cover of Back In Black. They make a good live band, putting a solid amount of energy into the songs, a clean sound-board recording helps too. Good for hardcore fans of the band, but it's not an awesomely amazing set, they aren't quite as epic as some other bands out there on a live set - or maybe it didn't come through the recording.

23Crash
Weird News From An Uncertain Future
Label: Alfa Matrix
Released: 2007
Genre: EBM, Electro


32Crash is a Jean-Luc De Meyer, Len Lemeire, and Jan D'Hooghe side project. It's a weird concept album that tells a tale of the future. Planetary devastation, ecological disaster, alien invasion, conquest, and other assorted bits of doom filter down through a stripped EBM beat. This is almost under-produced. But it works, and well, because these three guys know exactly how far down to strip things and still keep the club feel and sound. Definitely an album worth seeking out, it sounds good, you can put it on and use it for ambient sound, or put on headphones and get lost in a strange futuristic tale.

Bonus Track:
Bassnectar (featuring Amp Live)
Ugly
Label: Bassnectar self-released
Released: 2012
Genre: dubstep
A preview track from the upcoming Bassnectar album. If this track is an average example of what's to come this next album will be big and loud and all kids of fun. Comes out Real Soon (April 10, 2012). The song is just excellent, truly. Can't wait for the next album, I've got my copy on pre-order.

Next Week:
And next week .... not nearly so much metal. Some very old Unwoman (and a limited release at that), A Capella, Bassnova, Industrial and more....

Week of 3/13 - Rock, Synth-pop, Metal, blues-rock

Alright, this week is almost completely full of female-vocalists from a wide range of genres and styles. We'll just jump right in.

New Releases:
The Ting Tings - Sounds From Nowheresville
Label: Columbia Records
Released: 3/13 2012
Genre: Synth-pop, Rock
A sticker on the front claimed this as "Possibly ... the album of 2012." Well, there's a suspicious statement this early in the year. It's going to have to be mindbogglingly good, or create a whole new genre on its own. It is neither. It is good, verging on excellent. But not spectacular to a whole new level. It has the same electro feeling of Broken Bells, but bounces genres around more, a little bit of everything sneaks into this album. For all that diversity it doesn't come across as excessively schizophrenic as I might've thought. It all keeps close enough to a synth-pop aesthetic to keep the thing cohesive. The album of 2012? Doubtful. Good and definitely worth checking out? absolutely. This is good music.

Recently Released:
New Years Day - The Mechanical Heart
Label: Hollywood Waste
Released: 1/23 2012
Genre: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Another  2$ EP from the label, a good strategy. This is also some really good, solid, rock music. It isn't a female lead vocal in front of a rock band, they just happen to have a female lead singer. Subtle difference, but there they carry themselves on the weight of the entire band, it's a rock'n'roll package, unlike some bands that play music and then forefront the singer. They aren't amazing, but they are good, the kind of rock band that has a sound that can go the distance, hopefully it's enough to keep them making music for a good long time. Some punk and pop seeps it's way in, which will also hopefully keep them close enough to get a solid large following. A band worth checking out.

Adding To The Collection:
The Black Keys - Brothers
Label: Nonesuch Records
Released: 2010
Genre: Rock, Blues-Rock
Blues-Rock duo the Black Keyes  put out another drum and guitar laden album. This is the second album from them I've purchased (I don't always get in on the ground floor...), and it's a solid shot. Not as bluesy as I imagined it might have been, but not bad. A good solid groove to get into, plays well all the way through.  The thing is, here, nothing really jumped out at me, it's just an album. A good one, one I'm glad is in the mix, but that's just about it, in the mix. Really good for filling out long stretches of a playlist you need to occupy a few hours or more of time. Maybe down the line I'll fall in love with a single track, but in this first set of listen through, nothing amazing jumps out. Still, add it to your collection, it's good to have on hand.

Florence And The Machine - Lungs
Label: Universal Republic
Released: 2009
Genre: Rock
The debut album from Florence + The Machine. And you can tell, it's not quite as polished as the second album, not quite as comfortable. And some of the song content verges on a little creepy, the lyrics can make you uncomfortable as they're sung in an almost sweet manner. You can easily see why everyone immediately liked her, powerful singing, mixed with good music, percussion heavy, she doesn't drown it in guitars, but doesn't let it wallow in pop-banality either. The second album is definitely better, but only by extension of reaching further. You'd be making a mistake not checking out Florence.

Hydrogyn - Deadly Passions
Label: DR2 Recrods (Self-Released)
Released: 2008
Genre: Heavy Metal
The album opens with solid thrash-metal, Julie's vocals give the genre an extra dimension. Not the soaring female vocals of the classically trained, and not the low rumble of a female vocal trying to fit into a Heavy Metal Mold. Nope, Julie is straight forward, almost a pop-singers style, a little rough, and she can be pissed off without growling. The music is pure Metal, the kind we had back in the 80s that just pounds on at a good pace and let's the guitar go wild. Hydrogyn handily gets on with the business of making heavy metal, from slow to fast. Also, on this, is a cover of Alanis Morisette's You Outta Know, which they own. Julie sounds the supremely pissed off that the songs needs, and the heavier music suits it much better. Compared to this cover, the original is just whining. They aren't signed to a major, or even small, label yet. For good or ill, they're flying under the radar and deserve exposure - especially if you're a fan of a more raw metal sound.

Bonus Track:
Vaski - The Island feat. Sara Laske
Label: self-released Soundcloud download
Released: 2012
Genre: dubstep
Vaski put this out on his Soundcloud for release. It starts as a rather normal sounding club track with opening vocals, and just where you expect the thing to bang out a boring house beat, it drops. Like any really good dubstep track it knows the balance between the beat, the vocal, and where to drop the beat instead of picking it up. Vaski is a producer worth finding - most of his stuff is digital, with a few vinyl 12" singles around.

Next Week:
Hard and Soft collide - Industrial Rock from Germany, Hard Rock from the US, Classical music, and Flamenco by way of India...

Also, Hydrogyn has a new album coming out in April I'll be checking out for you, but I can tell you already it'll be more of the same good metal they've always made, worth checking out.

Week Of 3/6 - Rock, Industrial, Merengue, Blues, Metal

Heavy on the rock and roll this week, and old Tom Waits album finds its way into the collection, and a compilation of electro and industrial tracks plus Merengue! (I just like typing that word with a !).

New Releases:
Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
Label: Columbia Records
Released: 3/6 2012
Genre: Rock
The latest album from The Boss is also the first album I've actually purchased from him, oddly. Like everything else I've heard from Bruce (which is a bit considering I've never personally owned an album), it's straight up rock, blue color, with a tough of gospel lyrics tossed in. Given just have massively The Boss looms over the American music landscape it is a wonder it took me so long to pick up a full album. Compared to my usual smattering of radio play and friends I've never heard one all the way through. The whole album strikes me as a look at America under the bad influence of financial crisis, and very much a shot at those who brought it. None so clear as Death To My Hometown which is about economic ruin of small town America (and a solid thumping rock anthem to boot). As a rock album it's excellent, moving from soft to hard easily, the rhythm keeps up all the way through, not losing itself in too much introspection. While the theme is modern and close to home, he never loses site of the fact he's writing a rock album and never lets the message get in the way of the music.

Adding To The Collection:
Girl Of Fire - Revenge
Label: Hollywood Waste
Released: 2011
Genre: Rock
In all honesty I only picked up this 5-Track EP because it was two dollars, even as a 2-track Single I would probably have picked it up, it's nice to see someone out there still has the art of the Single in mind. No remixes, just five songs. The band reminds me a lot of pretty much every other rock band out there these days, except that I like them. They're more in line with each other, the sound is tight, no unintentional rough edges. This is the kind of music I wanted to get when I picked up the debut Finger Eleven album when that came out some years ago (and didn't). I do hope there is a full album out soon, a band I'm definitely keeping my eye out for, as the world could always do with more rock and roll.

Motörhead - Ace Of Spades
Label: Metal-Is
Released: 2001 (originally: 1980)
Genre: Metal, Rock
So, I actually avoided picking up this specific Motörhead album for years, for a couple reasons. First, all the tracks I really like I owned on compilations or live collections. Second, to hear the title track you just need to tune into your local hard rock/metal station because it's the only Motörhead song to get airplay these days (which is stupid). So, finally, I just added it to the collection because the gap was there... there are only a few other of their albums I haven't gotten yet, I'm sure I'll fix that soon too. It is a classic, really. Simple, dirty, loud, very loud, and hard. This edition comes with a bonus live track and two tracks with Girlschool, all three originally B-Sides (which I also already owned). This is also, I'm pretty sure, the first time I've heard the studio version of We Are The Road Crew, fancy that. No bad music here, you can hear the foundation upon which they make very loud rock and roll for the next 30 years, and going.

Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
Label: Island Records
Released: 1983
Genre: Blues, Rock
Tom Waits has always held a fascination for me, ever since I first heard Bone Machine over twenty years ago. Every time I picked up an album I never really knew what I was getting into, but I knew I'd like it. He just has that kind of strange magic over music, and I always look forward to the carefully timed selection of a new album - I haven't actually rushed out to complete a discography on purpose, I like the sense of discovery in his music. Swordfishtrombones isn't as overly bizarre as some other albums, it's mostly lots of talking blues, folk influences, and non-jazz songs. Very straightforward I think, in a really good way. It's different from his very early stuff, which had a lot of jazz in it, and more into experimenting with the sound, one of his first to not use completely 'standard' instruments of the time to make an album.

Rough Guide to Merengue
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2006
Genre: Merengue, Cumbia, Latin
Merengue is a dance, and the music of the Dominican Republic, emerging after their independence in the 19th century. It has it's deepest roots in Cuban dance. The Merengue style being both the music and the dance means every track here is highly danceable, the whole collection moves. And little bits of other parts of Latin America seep in, you can hear Cumbia, Mambos, Boleros, and others all get sucked in at points, but the core is still Merengue. It is not, as is a common misconception, derived from a circle dance (ballroom Merengue partners never separate). The music, well, it's alive. Very alive, and upbeat. The collection is modern artists, very little older stuff beyond modern renditions of traditional songs.

Vampire Freaks Precents Cry For Death Volume 1 Electro Edition




Label: Vampire Freaks website (none)
Released: 2011
Genre: Industrial, EBM, Electro
VF collected as many rare, b-side and even a few exclusives as they could (thirty six tracks) and dropped them all as a free download. The remixes are all off remix collections, Limited Edition releases, and a few unique songs, making it a decent enough collection and not just a bunch of album tracks. The upside is those into the genre get a smattering of songs they might have missed at some point, the downside is those getting into the genre don't get the best 'clean' representation of what the scene sounds like, it's all reinterpretations - though that in itself is very indicative of the scene, so, the down side isn't very down. If you like the genres, or want to get more cheaply (free!) head over to Vampire Freaks and download this, no sign-up required even. It's a solid way to get some stuff you might like - as compilations should be.

Bonus Tracks:
Kovary - Back In Black Moombahton Bootleg
Label: Soundcloud Release
Released: 2011
Genre: Moombahton
Kovary took AC/DCs Back In Black and bounced the hell out of it. The song is slow enough it doesn't need a tempo change, and hard enough that adding all that extra thump just gives it a little more punch. Toss this one onto a dancefloor and things should keep on bouncing hard. This is the kind of left-of-center stuff I like about Soundcloud.

Next Week:
I find out of The Ting Tings have put out "The album of 2012", examine another 2$ EP from the Hollywood Waste label, chill with Florence + The Machine, rock out with Hydrogyn, and get down with The Black Keys. . .

Week Of 1/24 - Modern Classical/Pop, Metal, Bollywood, Blues-Rock, Darkwave

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.

Week Of 12/13 - Metal, Psychadelic Rock, Jazz, Dubstep

Running a little late in the day... this week I take a look at the weird collaboration between Lou Reed and Metallica, a late 00s band that sounds like a late 60s band, some dubstep, and future jazz.

New Releases:
Knife Party - 100% No Modern Talking
Label: Earstorm
Released: 12/12 2011
Genre: dubstep; electro-house
A digital only released I picked up off Beatport, a nice little electro-house/dubstep 4-track EP. Internet Friends is very house, a little spastic, and for a dance tune like this also funny. Destroy Them With Lazers continues the mayhem of the first track, less heavy house-bass kick and more dubstep drop and lots of electro thrown in to keep it up in the air. Track 3 is kind of dull by comparison, sort of plods on with the electro. Fire Hive, the final track, though is nearly pure dubstep madness, not as frantic as some releases lately, but still very energetic.

Adding To The Collection:
Lou Reed + Metallica - Lulu
Label: Warner Bros.
Released: 11/1 2011
Genre: Metal; rock
This collaboration seems almost natural, like it should have happened years ago. Actually, it probably should have because this effort is a little weird. Not particularly musically challenging. Lou nearly speaks all the lines, like poetry instead of singing a song. Metallica, for their part, pretty much jams some banging tunes through out the whole thing. Some decent editing probably could have cut this monster down to one disc, instead of two. A seventy minute listen is all this needs, not a near ninety minute epic. It's just not That interesting. Though there are some really good songs on it. Pumping Blood and Little Dog are downright catchy, Mistress Dread is nice and dark. Overall though, you have to be a big fan of both artists to want this.

The Black Angels - Passover
Label: Light In The Attic
Released: 2006
Genre: Psychadelic Rock
The Black Angels have done something a lot of bands have tried to do since the 60s ended - recapture that rock sound it had so clearly created. Fuzzy guitars, blues rhythms, medium tempo, updeat and downbeat both, rock that sounded like it was trying to find itself. They also, in the process, created a very odd little Vietnam/Anti-War album that would also fit right into the late 1960s. They don't sound like a band trying to recreate the sound, they sound like a band playing the sound. All very dirty, bluesy, rock and roll. The one irony is the hidden track - a Jimmy Cliff cover of his song 'Vietnam' with new lyrics for the Iraq War, and it's just awful. It's a terrible modern rendition lacking all of Jimmy Cliff's timbre and style. It's also the only non-rock track, all acoustic. They should stick to the rock, because they're very good at it.

Dzihan And Kamien - Gran Riserva
Label: Six Degrees
Released: 2002
Genre: Future Jazz, House
Dzihan and Kamien are two artists that push electronic music really as far as they can by not being artists who create electronic music. This release is heavily jazz influenced, almost to the point of being a standard jazz record. But just enough other elements sneak in, other little bits and aspects from house and trip-hop, to keep it in a 'future jazz' style. Something different, something really good came out of the recording sessions for this. It's mellow, without being light, it's trip-hop without letting the beats take over. It's all amazing, but mostly background music, not dance music. Every time I find a D&K album I'm not quite sure what to expect, but every time I'm pleasantly surprised by it. Definitely worth tracking down if you have any interest in jazz that isn't quite jazz anymore.

Next week, more psychadelic rock, dubstep, house, and industrial. Until then, Listen Hard!

Week Of 12/6 - Rock, Metal, Dubstep, Psychobilly

This week a new Black Keys album lifts off with a solid rock sound to it, Korn mixes it up with a Metal-Dubstep collaboration album, I find an odd Dubstep compilation, and add some Psychobilly to the holiday music scene that is usually mind numblingly bad.

New Releases:
The Black Keys - El Camino
Label: Nonesuch
Released: 12/6 2011
Genre: Rock, Blues
Teaming up with producer Danger Mouse for this release, The Black Keys take their drum + guitar show and rock it out a little bit. With a sound that reminds me a little bit of the production quality on Danger Mouse's side project Broken Bells, but giving it a little more bluesy feel. The whole deal is very stripped down, understated, but with a big loud sound. There's a lot of rock and roll fun behind this album, very upbeat in a lot of parts. But the crowning gem on this one goes to Little Black Submarines, which starts off acoustic, before blaring on some heavy guitar and rhythm. I'm not sure I can actually explain the emotional connection I had with this song, but it's sad, longing, uplifting, and majestic all at once. The whole album is a good listen, enough variety in the songs to prevent them from sounding too similar, without gettign too far away from each other either.

Korn - The Path Of Totality
Label: Roadrunner Records
Released: 12/6 2011
Genre: Metal, Dubstep
For their latest effort Korn has decided to take a step a little further from traditional rock/metal albums by finding and working with a whole series of dubstep producers. It works amazingly well. The fuzzier heavy dubstep fits in nearly perfectly with heavy metal guitars and speed. Like most Korn albums I don't find all of it particularly good all the way through, bits and pieces at a time. There's always a few standout tracks though, Narcissistic Cannibal and Get Up! are two awesome songs. Overall the back half the album is much better than the front half. The Special Edition of the release has two bonus tracks and a DVD with the video Encounter, which is a live-shoot done in a crop circle, a sort of video best of. Dubstep producers that worked with then are Downlink, Kill The Noise, Skrillex, Noisia, Dastik, Excision, 12th Planet, and Feed Me.

Adding To The Collection:
Dubstep Madness
Label: Hypnotic Records
Released: 2011
Genre: Dubstep
Not sure where to really begin with this one. It's a two-disc set, almost all of it falling inbetween the older lighter stuff and the new heavier style. It also has a bunch of weird covers and remixes on it. About a third of it are original productions, all of which are excellent. The rest are some really good and some really odd choices to dubstep. By far the more interesting are Riders On The Storm (which is also the best cover of the song I've ever heard, replacing Jim with female vocals), Pass The Dutchie (which doesn't get all that far from its roots), Ice Ice Baby, Don't Stop The Rock, and Ghost Town. Thirty two tracks of decent dubstep, but nothing is particularly experimental, this whole thing is middle of the road filler for the most part.

Psychobilly Christmas
Label: Cleopatra Records
Released: 2008
Genre: Psychobilly
This one opens with a nice instrumental rendition of We Three Kings by The Reverend Horton Heat. After that, it goes off in a whole bunch of directions, all of which touch on holiday themes, but are decidedly not "traditional" holiday or christmas music. No one would play this in a mall, unfortunately. All of it great Pyschobilly in its own right, now with a Christmas theme. I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus goes from silly little ditty to excellent song with the addition of an upright bass. You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch gets a needed rock infusion. Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer likewise transforms from holiday cheese to an actual rocker. On more original somes I'm Getting Pissed For Christmas and Gunslingin' Santa are just the right touch to take the edge off family gatherings. There are nineteen tracks on here, all of which are a switft kick in the backend, unlike most "rock'n christmas" style songs or albums these really pour on the rock, hard.

Bonus Track:
The Razor Skyline - The Longest Night
I don't know when this was first released by the band, but it's been arounda few years. It feels like it might be a traditional christmas song, with a darkwave/goth rendition, but I'm pretty sure it isn't. A good little number to have in the holiday rotation to keep it all from being dull ballads and 'classics'. Released free to the public via Vampire Freaks.

Next Week:
I finally get to the Lou Reed and Metallica collaboration, some future jazz, some heavy blues-rock, and more dubstep, and maybe a little Moombahton thrown in the mix... maybe. Listen Hard!

Week Of 11/15 - Metal, Traditional (Scandanavia & Arabia/North Africa)

Late post, holiday week madness. The new releases on 11/15 actually sucked, so I went back to the beginning of the month and picked up Megadeth's latest, and loaded a whole bunch of Rough Guides in.

New Releases:
Megadeth - Th1rt3en
Label: Roadrunner
Released: 11/1 2011
Genre: Metal
Titling your 13th studio album Th1rt3en is either clever or a sign that you just ran out of album names. Past that littel bit of absurdity though, this is a solid metal record. Not the pure speed of the early thrash stuff from the 80s, but also not the generally over worked stuff of the 90s. The band here is evolved, precise, still thrash and definitely awesome. There's nothing particularly suprising here, it's a Megadeth album and sounds like a Megadeth album through and through. Better than some of the stuff offered up in the first part of the 2000s though, this feels and sounds like a Megadeth from around the Rust In Peace era, just solid guitar word, Dave's snarl, and songs that linger about 30 seconds too long. If you're a long time fan, you'll probably like it, in fact I'm pretty sure you will - I certainly do. Not the best they've ever done, but certainly not the worst.

Adding To The Collection
Rough Guide To The Music Of Scandanavia
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2000
Genre: Traditional (various nordic countries)
The collection takes from six countries, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and Greenland, a wide collection of artists and bodies of work. This is one of Rough Guide's earliest offerings, and isn't very tightly focused, which is also why I like it so much. Nordic folk music has a certain quality of sound that I really enjoy and this collection of 22 tracks goes all over the place with that. From very traditional music to modern takes on traditional sounds. Lots of songs to dance to (assuming you don't mind the occasional polska), the fiddle is everywhere, and strong voices accompany most tracks. Some tracks are slower, some are faster. If there's a downside to the compilation it doesn't really flow within its own context, good for putting on a random selection though.

Rough Guide To Arabic Lounge w/ Bonus Album: Introducing Akim El Sikameya
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2010
Genre: Loung, Traditional
Of all the Rough Guides, the 'Lounge' ones tend to be my least favorite. Partly because I'm not a huge fan of loung-style music, laid back and non-intrusive without being good background music. Partly because it tends to not showcase traditional works enough, they're kind of an 'almost modern' take on regional sounds. This one, not really an exception to that. Falls lock step into light sounding almost elevator music. Nothing jumps out, nothing sits in the background as good audio-tapestry. It's just there. It's not bad, there are some really nice tracks on here, and it's very light music. But, it also doesn't really flow very well. It's an average collection of music that seems to be missing a few spices. Individually, mant of the artists put out works with more punch to them, though, and each artist here is a slightly different sound, not surprising since this spans both Arabia and Northern Africa. Which is possibly it's problem - the geography is too wide, it's not quite focused enough. The bonus album is nice, light and airy, good to put on with other albums of this style if you need to sustain a relaxed mood for a few hours.

Hidden Track
Celldweller - Metallica + Black Sabbath Mashup "Disposable War Pigs"
Label: self released (found on Dubstep.net)
Released: November 2011
Genre: Dubstep, Metal
Celldweller took Metallica's 'Disposable Heroes' and Black Sabbath's 'War Pigs' and smashed them together (with snippets of For Whom The Bell Tolls and Iron Man for added punch). None of the metal was removed, a lot of dubstep drops were infused. The two songs fit amazingly well together and this track is a monster, pure and simple. A heavy dancefloor banger full of crunchy bits to get down with. This song really needs to be played at high volume. Nice little gem to stumble across for sure.

Next Week: new singles from Caustic and Pop Will Eat Itself (the first single off their new album), both are digital only available from Metropolis Records. And a bunch of Iggy Pop (with and without the Stooges) albums to smash into your ears.

Listen Hard