tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26333733546111510912024-02-07T02:28:36.819+00:00What is Music?The Blog That Celebrates ItselfThe Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.comBlogger270125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-16295086308693447802014-05-19T23:44:00.000+01:002014-05-19T23:44:07.874+01:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Brawlers</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">I Am A Worthless Piece of Shit</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Alcopop! Records</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Rating: 4/5</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's hard, when dealing with a band with as impeccable credentials as Brawlers, to ever full divorce them from whatever came before. <br /><br />In the case of frontman Harry Johns that's especially true; following his stint as one half of the phenomenal Old Romantic Killer Band, his next project Wingman then penned one of the best grunge songs ever written ('N64', in case you're curious). Rather than plug away at the blues-inflected grunge forever, he then took a left turn and released an incredible, intimate folk mini album, 'Post Breakdown Blues' under his own name, before quietly releasing another rock track 'End of Days' as a video. <br /><br />Brawlers, as I'm sure you've sussed out by now, is his new project - and they're rather a different beast, even if they bear some surface similarities to Wingman. The tempo is fast; the drums are big, dumb pop-punk, but the riffs and chords sound like classic Johns. His vocals are maybe a bit more polished and less raw than they've been in the past, but his sense of humour and caustic honesty are still intact; this EP is called 'I Am A Worthless Piece of Shit', after all. <br /><br />If you're into punk rock in the Lawrence Arms/Asian Man Records vein (as I am), you'll probably like this. It's very polished compared to a lot of that stable, but the attitude behind it certainly isn't dissimilar. If that's too mainstream for you, then perhaps check out one of Johns' previous projects as they are more similar in tone to Jeff Rosenstock's poetic catharsis with Bomb The Music Industry!.</span></span></div>
The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-90985681368871845072014-04-19T13:42:00.003+01:002014-04-19T13:42:57.232+01:00Bo Ningen - III<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Bo Ningen</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">III</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rating: 4/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Challenging at best, completely obtuse at worst, Bo Ningen's records have always trodden a fine line between fuzzed-out psych punk genius and shredding, aimless noise. For the most part it's a divide they've stayed on the right side of, and on 'III' they deliver their most coherent listening experience yet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Though 'DaDaDa' kicks things off in typically heavy fashion, it doesn't set the tone for the entire album. The following four tracks - including excellent stoner rock cut 'Slider' - continue the theme, in doing so also capriciously capturing the essence and spirit of a Bo Ningen live show, so much as such a thing is possible. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The second half of the record is a surprise, however. On 'Mukaeni Ikenai' the band toy with soundscape-rich shoegaze for nine glorious minutes. 'Maki-Modoshi' and 'Mitsume' pick up where the heavier tracks left off, but bring with them a more confident groove and rhythmic hooks. 'Ogosokana Ao' also shines, bringing the tempo back down for a gauzy electronica interlude. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The danger with Bo Ningen is that for all their unpredictability, they nevertheless have a clearly defined sound of their own. Their challenge is making all of the elements within that work together consistently in harmony and without letting the secret formula for it all lead them to stale or facile work. The triumph therefore of 'III' is not only that the parts which sound most like Bo Ningen are as good as ever, but that they sound fresh enough to rub shoulders with the unexpected.</span></div>
The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-81460014095202814062013-12-06T19:49:00.000+00:002013-12-06T19:49:00.244+00:00Carefully Planned 2013 - Review<span style="font-size: x-large;">Carefully Planned Festival, Various Venues, Manchester</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">19th & 20th October 2013</span><br /><br />Now in its third year, Carefully Planned Festival has quickly become an essential date in the Manchester music calendar. With the demise of In The City and dissolution of other similar city-centre events, it's really the closest thing remaining to Liverpool's Sound City and Leeds' Live at Leeds. What perhaps sets it apart the most however is that it's not billed as an 'emerging bands event' in the same way; yes, these bands are for the most part smaller, but there's a notable absence of the crass 'music industry chasing its own tail' effect that the dedicated showcase events are prone to. <br />
<br />In any case, kicking the weekend off in fine form were Cleft, on first at the Castle, and presumably timed to get people out of bed and to the festival. Playing to a packed room, the two-piece 'turbo prog' outfit dazzled with a wilfully schizophrenic set of math-inflected heavy rock cut through with eccentric and atmospheric space rock. <br />
<br />Gizeh signings Shield Patterns at Kraak Gallery are another highlight of the early afternoon, creating the kind of lush shoe gaze you'd expect of School of Seven Bells, except with perhaps a slightly less percussive edge. It's the perfect counterpoint to Cleft's racket, and a far cry from Suffer Like G Did, who follow at Soup Kitchen. Drawing attention on the math and post-rock scene, the band take a more chordal approach than outfits like ASIWYFA but do manage to slip a few decent riffs in their tunes. It's not mind-blowing, but it's solid enough festival fare. <br />
<br />Vasquez, on the other hand, are mind-blowing. Off the back of awesome new release 'EP246' they play a blinding set composed of tight rhythms and head-banging riffs. They have a satisfying sense of when to let the rhythms lead and when there needs to be a clear melody, and as such each member gets his time in the spotlight as they nail one of the performances of the festival.<br />
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<br />Lovecraft at Night and Day are an indie band very much in the post-Joy Division mould, and perhaps stand out a bit more at CP for that as math and post-rock bands broadly tend to be the order of the day. Afterward, Crash of Rhinos at Soup Kitchen score one of the biggest crowds of the weekend to showcase debut album 'Knots'.<br />
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Live their old-school post-hardcore is much more immediate and provocative than on record, and the band really throw everything they have into their set. It's breathless stuff, and after seeing them live you get a sense of why comparisons are made to luminaries like Rival Schools. <br />
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<br />From the Kites of San Quentin close the Night and Day stage in style, drawing heavily on excellent new EP '7.73Hz: Earth Chorus' to deliver a stunning set of the best future electronica in the city right now.<br />
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Finally, a dash to Gullivers finds math-noiseniks JazzHands making an unholy racket with two drum kits, bass and sax. Luckily they stay fully clothed for this performance, but it's undoubtedly the most abrasive and bizarre set of the weekend regardless.<br />
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<br />Kicking off the Gulliver's stage on Sunday is local duo Bad Grammar. With a rising profile in part due to a superior live show, the boy-girl duo look poised to do great things if only they do not collapse under the weight of bullshit White Stripes comparisons. Though there is a noticeable blues twang at the edges of the guitar tone, cut from that cloth they are not. They're really more like a punk band masquerading as a grunge band that hangs around with math bands - if indeed that makes any sense at all. A melting pot of styles, they are at heart quite straightforward, and that's no bad thing. <br />
<br />Something completely different is found in the form of Base Ventura at Soup Kitchen. Fried psych rock in the vein of White Hills or perhaps Gnod, they make an arresting racket. There's a few giddily satisfying moments when all the elements coalesce into a perfect whole, but as is often the case with live psych, it's not clear if that's as a result of deft composition or serendipity. Next up are Sparrowhawks, whose poised folk stylings are a breath of fresh air after such an intense beginning to the day. There's a gentle intensity and drama to what they're forging under all the vocal harmonies, and it'll be interesting to see what their compositional efforts create when they turn to a debut album.<br />
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<br />The Slaughterhouse 5 at Soup are completely baffling. The more cabaret-like parts of their live show suggest a group like The Flaming Lips but underneath it all their music is eclectic indie-rock with a pronounced post-rock twist. They sound like The Crimea might have sounded, in fact, had they not been so bloody-mindedly apocalyptic about everything and actually capable of smiling on stage. <br />
<br />After that, it's a prog double-bill with longtime stage-sharers Cyril Snear and Trojan Horse at Gulliver's. Debuting some new material after the release of this year's excellent 'Riot of Colour' album, Cyril Snear are best described as sounding a bit like Oceansize. That is, they don't really sound like Oceansize, but they have the same knack for pulling together disparate strands of experimental guitar music and presenting it like it was supposed to be played that way all along. <br />
<br />Trojan Horse, meanwhile, are very much further down the organs and capes spiral of nonsense. An absolutely brilliant live outfit, like their closest comparison The Mars Volta they're a hardcore band turned prog, and as the three Duke brothers interlace three-part harmonies with shredding punk riffs it comes as very welcome news that their second album is on the way. <br />
<br />Johnny Foreigner put in a solid set on the de facto main stage at Soup - which sounds markedly more punk rock than their records - before it's time for the final band of the weekend. Known for their occasional moonlighting performances as Well Weezer, local punks Well Wisher have drafted in some members of Alcopop! records buddies Doctrines for tonight's performance, and an awesome weekend is seen out in style with sing-alongs, crowd-surfing and the world's tiniest stage invasion. Brilliant. <br />The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-34248226789334329802013-02-14T14:25:00.001+00:002013-02-14T14:25:43.205+00:00Elohymn<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Time to break the long silence on here - have been rather occupied <a href="http://www.ninetailsband.co.uk/" target="_blank">with</a> <a href="http://www.cyrilsnear.com/" target="_blank">other</a> <a href="http://www.hipstersunite.co.uk/" target="_blank">things</a> of late. So Elohymn were an incredible post-rock/math-prog band I wrote about years ago back when I first started hammering away on the keyboard. I think I could be forgiven for assuming that after a long period of silence, few gigs and some missed emails that they had given up... but no. As it turns out, last year they released not one but two excellent EPs, and rather than bore you to death with my opinion, I'm going to do a one word review and then direct you to kindly <i>go and fucking listen already</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Review: insanityawesomeghostintheshellfutureprog</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Links: </span><br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=2423429146/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400"><a href="http://elohymn.bandcamp.com/album/hearing-songs-through-music-e-p">Hearing songs through music E.P by Elohymn</a></iframe><br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=1618994009/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400"><a href="http://elohymn.bandcamp.com/album/pale-blue-dot">Pale Blue Dot by Elohymn</a></iframe><br />The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-21758700541574627262012-10-06T11:35:00.000+01:002012-10-06T11:35:10.187+01:00Back This!<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">What can I say, I still love Asian Man Records. Watch the video, read the blurb and get really excited about this project. </span>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="210" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/asianmanrecords/hiro-tanaka-photo-book/widget/video.html" width="350"> </iframe>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-43692084934738831292012-09-10T13:04:00.000+01:002012-09-10T13:04:00.611+01:00New Music Roundup<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
This is a city blog that I wrote for DIY with my city blogger hat on - but as it's a bit too general it ended up not getting used. It's got loads of new (and a lot of free) music in it, so if you want to check out some new music, read right on. So, without further ado then....!<br />
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Hello again. In this
instalment of the city blog I was rather hoping to have brought you
front-line reports from 2000 Trees and Tramlines in Sheffield, along
with some choice local gig action, but in the end an unexpected
hospital visit kind of fucked that plan all to hell. Instead
therefore, you get a run-down of great free music that I crawled
through Bandcamp to find while I was off work recovering. Hooray!</div>
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First though, it's time
for a bit of gushing praise: two demos sent in after my last column
have been firmly on repeat – the first, by Tall for Jockeys is
publicly available free from Bandcamp. It's called 'Get Japan on the
Phone' and is like an awesome, angry, super-raw Reuben all up in your
face. (<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://tallforjockeys.bandcamp.com/">http://tallforjockeys.bandcamp.com/</a></u></span></span>)
There's plenty of subtle hints at inner depth but ultimately it's a
rocking, hollering slab of unpretentious brilliance. Second is
Embers, who have this whole kind of industrial-post-rock-lo-fi thing
going on that's a lot harder to describe. It is, to use an NME word,
'anthemic'; however, unlike the calculated edges of boring hype music
like Wu Lyf, Embers' edges are real, born of shitty home recordings
that capture so much attitude and menace I almost don't want to hear
the result of them in a proper studio (this from somebody who
distrusts the lo-fi movement and thinks that all drums should be
legally required to be recorded by Chris Sheldon).
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=157462700/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400"><a href="http://tallforjockeys.bandcamp.com/album/get-japan-on-the-phone">Get Japan On The Phone by Tall For Jockeys</a></iframe>
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A band that don't
suffer from under- or over- production on the other hand are
Glasgow's Crusades, whose new EP is going to melt faces when it hits
in September; for now get free track 'Pseudo Andro' free from their
Bandcamp and get blown away like the guy from the Maxell ad
by their ATDI-meets-Dillinger Escape Plan insanity. Insanity, I tell
you!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-DP89iMe0BY" width="315"></iframe>
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=2739051692/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400"><a href="http://crusades.bandcamp.com/track/pseudo-andro">Pseudo Andro by Crusades</a></iframe>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Now, on to the free
stuff. A band I really have been frankly rude in overlooking until
this point is Alpha Male Tea Party, who deal in the kind of mathy
heaviness that a good portion of Yourcodenameis:milo fans are
probably still craving to claw themselves back from cold turkey. If
you count yourselves among that – let's be honest – elite team,
then get their album 'AMTP' from their Bandcamp for free or a
delicious physical copy.
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=2413102504/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400"><a href="http://alphamaleteaparty.bandcamp.com/album/amtp">AMTP by alpha male tea party</a></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
While Giants Sleep are
a Swedish rock band with post-rock elements that have honed their
craft down to snappy alt-rock songs that are practically lethal on
their second EP, 'You Are A Landscape'. With hints of everything from
The Verve to At the Drive-In, it's a pretty eclectic offering, and
it's proven very hard to topple from top of my playing pile this
month. That the opening track is the weakest speaks volumes for a
release with such a great opener, but it really does progressively
improve – by finisher 'Titans' you'll be standing on the sofa
hollering the chorus too. Their first EP is also free, and while it
may not be quite as accomplished it's an interesting post-hardcore
affair that signposts the steps the band were yet to make with their
newest material.
</div>
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3873450478/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400"><a href="http://whilegiantssleep.bandcamp.com/album/you-are-a-landscape">You Are a Landscape by While Giants Sleep</a></iframe>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
For those of a djenty
persuasion, I recently came across this utter gem – Aion by Lithium
Dawn. Though it's surely got to be at least a runner up for worst
album artwork ever, the music will absolutely blow you away –
doubly so since I guarantee the album art will set your expectations
real fucking low. Part in that school of melodic atmospheric rock
that includes Perfect Circle, Failure, Far and Ashes Divide, part
firmly in the progressive metal territory of Tool or djent of
Periphery, it's a thrillingly-executed modern metal album with such
consistent quality that there's not a dull moment on it. Quite
probably one of the albums of the year – it's that good.
</div>
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=2504260166/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400"><a href="http://lithiumdawn.bandcamp.com/album/aion">AION by Lithium Dawn</a></iframe>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Not really a new band,
but Australia's brilliant post-rockers Sleepmakeswaves – currently
on tour with Karnivool, have put up the majority of their back
catalogue up on Bandcamp for free. If you've not already heard them,
they're probably best for fans of This Will Destroy You, Oceansize
and Hammock. Check it out here.</div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
(<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://sleepmakeswaves.com/album/in-today-already-walks-tomorrow-ep">http://sleepmakeswaves.com/album/in-today-already-walks-tomorrow-ep</a></u></span></span>)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Masaka are a band from
Canada, and they sound sort of like veteran grunge bassist Melissa
Auf Der Maur's first album, with added fuzz. Strictly if you're into
'Siamese Dream' era Smashing Pumpkins and that whole attendant scene,
but a lot of fun nevertheless.
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
(<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://masaka.bandcamp.com/">http://masaka.bandcamp.com/</a></u></span></span>)</div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Best song title this
month goes to the track 'Dinner and a Movie on a Post-Apocalyptic
Earth: 12 Bottle Caps, Successfully Repopulating the Human Race:
Priceless' by Californian math band The Speed of Sound in Seawater,
who according to their bio are “BFFs” - cool. Coincidentally, you
can get this weird math-rock ballad here.</div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
(<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://thespeedofsoundinseawater.bandcamp.com/track/dinner-and-a-movie-on-a-post-apocalyptic-earth-12-bottle-caps-successfully-repopulating-the-human-race-priceless">http://thespeedofsoundinseawater.bandcamp.com/track/dinner-and-a-movie-on-a-post-apocalyptic-earth-12-bottle-caps-successfully-repopulating-the-human-race-priceless</a></u></span></span>)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Penultimate thing:
October's Carefully Planned festival has announced its line-up, and
it is shockingly good. Aside from AMTP there are a ludicrously huge
number of great mathy and progressivey post-rock bands playing, so
check out the event listing on Songkick here.
(<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.songkick.com/festivals/288973-a-carefully-planned/id/13479314-a-carefully-planned-festival-2012">http://www.songkick.com/festivals/288973-a-carefully-planned/id/13479314-a-carefully-planned-festival-2012</a></u></span></span>)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Finally, a brief hype
alert: after seeing them live twice (with Yeti Lane in June and
Plank! last week), it appears that Leeds' Hookworms are as good as
the hype. That is all.
</div>
<br />The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-59440741731280977782012-09-05T12:41:00.000+01:002012-09-05T12:41:00.091+01:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h1 style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
Rival Schools</h1>
<h3 style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;">
United By Fate</h3>
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Rating:4/5 </div>
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<br />
I'll admit, I'm pretty late to the whole Rival Schools party; in hindsight it seems almost like sacrilige that a band so close to the bands I like the most should have so wholly and totally missed my attention, but ho hum, there it is. Anyway, a lot of words have presumably been penned about this record at one point or another, and I have no desire to add a huge number more to them. What I will say is that if you're into any number of vaguely interesting or experimental bands that namecheck post-hardcore bands from the late 90s, you'll probably love Rival Schools. Except of course you already know this; it's only me that's late to the party. <br />
<br />
So, Travel by Telephone, the opener is a brilliant trainwreck of rock attitude and pop melodies, a theme that extends to oft-checked highlight High Acetate. Used for Glue is very much at the other end of the Rival Schools spectrum; heavy and emphatic, it's probably the sort of track that inspired so many emo bands to list them as a reference (and probably help towards me not checking them out at the time). That said though, I actually kind of prefer that full-tilt sound. Tracks like Good Things may have a seductive groove and an attractive post-grunge single chorus, but in truth when I want that I'll go to Silverchair instead, thanks. <br />
<br />
Right then, Rival Schools. Get a copy, introduce yourself to the four named tracks above and then delve deeper if you like; I'll post a review of their long-awaited follow-up Pedals on here soon. </div>
The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-28045237103818788202012-08-30T09:11:00.001+01:002012-08-30T09:11:26.629+01:00Claw the Thin Ice / Pooch - The Bay Horse, Manchester<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It's not often that you get home from a gig and immediately feel compelled to put pen to paper (as it were), but tonight's performance by Claw the Thin Ice and Pooch simply had to be shared. I'm not going to mention headliners NASDAQ – not because they weren't excellent, for they were – because I've already written about them here and elsewhere at some length. </span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Anyway, so Claw the Thin Ice then. It's pretty much a given that anything Ian Breen (he of Well Wisher and Day for Airstrikes) goes near will end up being pretty good, but Claw the Thin Ice are probably the best thing he's currently involved with. Essentially a power-pop band drawing on the coolest modern punk around, they've added to this template a shoegaze sensibility and wall-of-sound attack. Consequently, although they have many of the trappings of a contemporary pop punk or US indie group, they actually sound more like Velocity Girl – the sort of band that Sub Pop was signing in the early 90s. A tight rhythm section and catchy, aggressive drum riffs recall My Vitriol, while washed out, earnest vocals with great, simple melodies round things off. They don't have any music recorded yet, so you'll have to catch them live if you want to hear. </span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Second up were Pooch – who were also sick. Wholly instrumental, I'm not sure exactly how to describe their sound; there's bits of bands like Don Caballero or Battles in there, and their bassist certainly knows how to play to the strengths of a three-piece setup. I'm not sure if a) I just want to talk about Rush or b) they actually sound a little Rush-like, but, well, Rush. Yeah, I went there. Like I said before, the fact their bass player isn't afraid of the higher frets frees up the guitar for greater and more expressive experimentation, and a focus on sharp melodies is welcome. Rounded off by another aggressive drummer and the occasional “whoa” vocal, there's a little bit of the hardcore early ...Trail of Dead in there too – and of course, that is no bad thing. </span><br />
<br />
(I've got some photos of the show too, so I'll upload them when I get the chance)The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-21889704809754370972012-08-14T10:12:00.002+01:002012-08-14T10:12:46.190+01:00First Thoughts on Bloc Party - Four<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<img height="240" src="http://blocparty.com/img/new/header.jpg" width="400" /> </div>
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<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
I doubt I'll get around to a full review, but given I've got some spare time while proofreading my friend Jake's novel I thought I'd stick on the stream of the new Bloc Party album (here, in case you didn't know) and scribble something, so here goes. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
Well, on <i>Four</i> it's so obvious that Russell has been playing with Ash for two years and listening to Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins and Deftones all day for starters. There's also a heavier vibe in the rhythm section and some more mathy tendencies (think early Biffy or ATDI) - but then, Gordon being in Young Legionnaire will clearly have resulted in a lot of 'milo records being played... so probably that shouldn't be a surprise. 'V.A.L.I.S.' bears the hallmarks of their compromise between electronics and guitars that increasingly took over the band first time round, but it's very much the exception to the rule. Bottom line is that track aside the new album almost sounds like a different band!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
That's about it really. </div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">For the record, I actually quite liked all of the random electronic stuff they did on </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Intimacy</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">, but this genuinely is more of a break for them than anything they've done before - and dare I say it, I'm actually excited about this coming out. Shit, I might even pre-order it. Madness. </span></div>
The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-41952352550396115122012-06-25T13:35:00.003+01:002012-06-25T13:35:36.948+01:00Piracy is Dead<div style="text-align: right;">
<u><b>Piracy is Dead</b></u></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
...or at the very least, why the music industry isn't either.</div>
<br />On this blog I'm no stranger to sweeping titles. Some of the most popular content on here (as Google Analytics has it, anyway) are my two articles "Spotify is Dead (Long Live Spotify)" and "The End of Music?", so it's in the spirit of those pieces that I have decided upon the name for this piece. To counter my own title: no, piracy is not dead, nor is it dying; but its threat to the mainstream music industry may now be truly at an end, and I would argue soon the act of music piracy itself will gradually fade back towards being a niche activity, with a corresponding economic impact. Let's break this down.<br /><b><br />I: Piracy as Niche and the Torrenting Music 'Fan'</b><br />In the biggest, most self-righteous arguments (and yes, I have been guilty of this many times) about the relative morality of illegal downloading, a 'fact' is often trotted out by pro-downloaders: music fans that illegally torrent are more likely to pay for music more often than the norm. Great, you might say - and I'll put my hands up at this point and state that Chinese whispers aside if anybody can locate a more empirical version of this annoyingly vague truism then I'd be glad to hear it - but is there any evidence of that? Well, the two or three most likely examples are probably Metric, Nine Inch Nails or Radiohead, and I'm not going to bore anyone by going over those case studies again. What I will say is that all three examples rely on not just the act of downloading to build a business model, but that interaction itself being directly between fan and band; that is to say, the band as brand is benefiting from the free download. This 'free, legal' download model was briefly in vogue enough that Sub Pop suggested monetizing t-shirt sales and offering free downloads, and we started a record label based on the concept; but from what we've seen, all the goodwill in the world can't bypass a rough rule of thumb: it takes ten free downloads to get a paid one, and the paid download is often not worth enough to make up the shortfall. <br /><br />Now, there are several things wrong with my assumptions there, so let's dive in: yes, we don't pay distro costs so actually our 'loss' is minimal; no, there isn't a marginal cost, so we don't 'lose' anything in the strict material or financial sense; yes, we do get increased exposure (presumably) due to people being able to get hold of the release for free. The problem we have is that we're trying to build bands up from scratch and logic dictates that both early evangelists and close friends and family are those the most likely to dig deep to support a young or new band - when that release (as it often is) is released for free, then while the amount of money sacrificed may be small, it has a big potential effect in terms how that could be reinvested. Anyway, I digress. <br /><br />So, the point to take away from this is that the torrenter is interacting with a torrent site that are experiencing value being added to their brand rather than the band, and that's kind of a shame. <br /><br />The point that's relevant to my argument is this: these people are a small niche and they do not matter in a commercial sense. Whatever their behaviour might or might not be in practice, 99% of people are not 'true fans' anyway; 99% of people do not 'torrent a lot'; 99% of people will not re-purchase legally. The people that would 'kill the music industry' are the people who buy an album a month, or every six months; the casual fans. If these casual fans turned to torrenting by default, then we'd have problems. They haven't <i>all </i>done so, and since we know that it's only a niche continuing to do so ('true fans' or not), there will continue to be an avenue to monetize music to an audience. If piracy had become the norm then the music industry would die, but neither has come to pass - the problems are more about record labels now being risk averse and pandering more to the mainstream with lowest common denominator music that they can guarantee ROI on through iTunes. <br /><br />The problem with the alternative free models and a lot of the industry navel-gazing over the past few years is that the 'innovative' artists have already been established, or in the case of Adele and her apps, plugged into a mainstream audience. There aren't many post-Napster indie superstars, and I'll talk about that later. <br /><br />I would suggest that by bulk pricing - without even breathing a word over range of music - retailers like HMV and the supermarkets are bigger threats to music now. <br /><br /><b>II: Monetization of Content</b><br />Okay, so one of the biggest triggers for this piece is the following situation. Provided by a PR with an MPE for an album I was to review, I found (like many before me) that the PlayMPE system is poorly conceived, patronising and difficult to use. Thus, I took to the internet to find an illegal, DRM-free version so I could listen on my commute and actually have time to write the review. Five minutes searching and an hour of downloading later and I had my album; however, when I clicked to unpack the zip it asked me for a password - pretty standard stuff, so I checked the folder and, lo and behold, there was a ReadMe. Great, I thought, opening that file instead only to be confronted with a url. A little bit pissed off, I copied it and threw it into my browser, only to be taken to a page prompting me to fill in a consumer survey to 'unlock my download'. Oh, ffs. The funny thing is, I've talked to people about this, and it's becoming more and more common. Pirates or people hosting content that's potentially of dubious provenance are trying harder than ever to monetize it, and the bottom line is that if you make it hard or costly to get hold of illegal content, people won't bother.<br />
<br />
Demand in this instance is completely inelastic, and though it's a given people won't tolerate the marginal price increase of even a penny, they also will be loath to deal with the marginal time increase of five minutes dealing with a survey - they'll simply go to Spotify instead. Okay, so 'on air on sale' has basically been abandoned (why? Do the majors not get it, or are they simply trying to sell fewer records?) which means there might be a delay in finding it on iTunes, but you can bet it'll be on Grooveshark. Yes, before you point it out of course Grooveshark is a) illegal and b) doesn't pay fees to artists, but it's either going to have to get with the program or be sued out of existence, so I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that in a post-Grooveshark world people will either pre-order or, should 'on air on sale' be adopted once more, just stream the record. It will come to be a trade-off between the poles of time and money - and since iTunes continues to do a roaring trade, I'd hazard a guess that for your <i>average</i> consumer, convenience will eventually win out.<br />
<br /><b>III: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Accept that I am in an Indie Band, or The Fate of Alternative Music</b><br />
I know lots of people in bands. The problem is this: there have always been lots of bands, but now the playing field is exceptionally level. The barriers to entry for distributing your music on Bandcamp are non-existent, and besides how professional say your website looks or how many 'fans' you have on Facebook (a complete red herring, but never mind), there's no at-a-glance way of telling bands apart in terms of relative success. What it all means is this - in a DIY world of perfect competition, it's really hard to grow to be a large band. I see this as a writer with slightly niche music taste; I know that all the bands I could ever want to hear are out there somewhere, and just because I know they are it suggests the number of bands that are quite alike is also very large. No longer do you have to purchase only Radiohead or Sonic Youth records as a catch-all for alternative because you can't find bands in between. No, whatever you want to hear is out there, and that's both liberating and terrifying. There's an infamous interview with the Guardian where Field Music reveal just how little they earn, and I think that's sort of the norm now. Even for a creative band that have found their niche, found their audience and convinced them to buy a record, there's a glass ceiling that is very hard to break through even with $99 boxsets (cough, Crosses - who can also play on the fanbases of Far and Deftones). The point is, there's not much money to be made unless you can capture the mainstream in some way, and the majors just aren't interested for the most part. <br /><br />A sub-point in all of this is the proliferation of what is often called the 'micro-label'; closely tied in with both the DIY ethos and the spread of web services like Soundcloud, Bandcamp and Wordpress, many bands have either transformed into tiny labels of their own or grouped into small co-op labels. Individual tastemakers and scenesters have also created labels, and it seems that a slight bump in exposure generated by curation as well as the validation of being 'on a label' mean that bands are still keen to sign. Even up to small indie status many labels expect bands to do their own recordings, but having promotion and distribution paid for is still attractive enough presumably to generate a small but essential ecosystem of labels that people buy into because of the ethos of the small group or individual behind them. Blogs like Beardrock and Echoes and Dust have recently made the transition, but the spiritual forefathers are labels like Big Scary Monsters, Brew, Blood and Biscuits and Sonic Cathedral (among many, many others) that made the jump a little ahead of the pack.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The problem of course that these artists and labels find is that touched upon earlier - that alternative music fans are more likely to be net-literate and download savvy, so that they are hit with the double whammy of low investment or income and low sales as a result of the combination of self-funding or being on a micro-label and low sales. Ouch.<br />
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I remember the guys behind UnConvention telling me that they did a workshop where they went into a school and found that kids had actually paid for something like 10% of the total music that they owned. Shocked by this, they went home and looked through their record collections - and realised that as children of the home taping generation, their record collection at that age probably ran to a similar ratio. As a child of the briefest of fads - home CDR burning - I'm sure this is true of some of my friends, but the thing is we weren't ever interested in Maroon 5 albums (it was 2003-5, hence that blast-from-the-past reference), we were interested in alternative albums, and it doesn't take too many people from a cult band like Oceansize or The Beta Band's fanbase to burn instead of buy to make a real impact on their fortunes. Again, like illegal downloading I'd say that tech-savvy alt kids are most likely to be guilty of it, except that in the downloading age the speed (much quicker than a 4x drive anyway) and ease means they can <i>get hold of more</i>. Even if that increase is only one album a month on what we grew up with, that across a large number of people adds up to a huge hit in lost revenue - and damages the bands that can least afford to lose it. <br /><br /><b>IV: The Obvious Stuff</b><br />a) The UK record industry is now back in growth, largely as a result of digital sales. <br />b) There will always be a market for sentimental, tacky pap (to quote Jack Black in <i>High Fidelity</i>). <br />c) Streaming revenues are on the increase, and this will benefit major labels et. al - but the withdrawal of many indies from the Spotify platform shows distrust at other levels in the extent to which streaming is a substitute for ownership. This is clearly not good if you want to heavily monetize a fan base of 10,000 as opposed to generate streams from 30 million users. <br /><br />The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-36422266601797972172012-06-23T23:34:00.001+01:002012-06-23T23:34:51.037+01:00New podcast, finally!<br />
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<br />The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-22626287839349645442012-04-14T14:46:00.001+01:002012-04-14T14:46:00.237+01:00...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Reviews Roundup<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">In the last half year or so I've finally got into ...Trail of Dead in a big way, so I thought I'd bash through a quick reviews round-up in case you were wondering where to start.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9Q9QH69Ez-42qsOq27-XSGDJ4VWCyP619CsGsTBHqOlOMYnbYFJqepS5VSAdrSVW-kao1wKT9ojwyReQAE1WMRbJU2-MvMHWZug3Q7FU420XdMWuU7u90_l8iFZAGZUN3kKegsBM-g/s1600/And+You+Will+Know+Us+by+the+Trail+of+Dead+-+Madonna+%5B1999%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9Q9QH69Ez-42qsOq27-XSGDJ4VWCyP619CsGsTBHqOlOMYnbYFJqepS5VSAdrSVW-kao1wKT9ojwyReQAE1WMRbJU2-MvMHWZug3Q7FU420XdMWuU7u90_l8iFZAGZUN3kKegsBM-g/s320/And+You+Will+Know+Us+by+the+Trail+of+Dead+-+Madonna+%5B1999%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><u>Madonna</u>: 'Richter Scale Madness' and 'A Perfect Teenhood' epitomise ...Trail of Dead's early material – Sonic Youth with two drumkits and aggressively lo-fi recording that feels as if it's ready to rip at the seams. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><u><br />
</u> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga402mWC7rjbohQcv4Ia3JN7ysDY4QGsGbvEFCnp7jopgOs67yD2bkk12V3iJNXBfaqRPphYiHyb5xq6YSlvBbpcN3DN7bUzHYCC_Ft7FRoh3I0luj4eFv_o8VwgAzrW_Aq9Qp4C6maQ/s1600/178-source-tags-and-codes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga402mWC7rjbohQcv4Ia3JN7ysDY4QGsGbvEFCnp7jopgOs67yD2bkk12V3iJNXBfaqRPphYiHyb5xq6YSlvBbpcN3DN7bUzHYCC_Ft7FRoh3I0luj4eFv_o8VwgAzrW_Aq9Qp4C6maQ/s320/178-source-tags-and-codes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><u>Source Tags & Codes</u>: The 'go-to' record for ...Trail of Dead die hards, it's the point at which they began to develop from a slightly unhinged punk act into something more complex and refined. Saying that, 'It Was There That I Saw You' is just as intense as anything written in their early career and riffs on a lot of the stylistic elements that defined their sound – speed, drone notes, extra percussion – while also bringing in more intricate arrangements and superior attention to detail in the use of texture. All this considered, it would be insupportable to claim Source Tags as the best ...Trail of Dead album as many do; equally simplistic is to malign its successors. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8O0X54UmOyzaIChnVJRzLA2C22cHhmHHfEsrYYHLqLzts0FoSfP1WTZLkFSk4sAKF6Qt0xao2HvK8RI7ZmEB4xd-fS5R9K_PQZA_2G6SIX14RTrbxUQlt8Y_ya0GcGSpE1Wkz4z-6DA/s1600/trailofdead_worlds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8O0X54UmOyzaIChnVJRzLA2C22cHhmHHfEsrYYHLqLzts0FoSfP1WTZLkFSk4sAKF6Qt0xao2HvK8RI7ZmEB4xd-fS5R9K_PQZA_2G6SIX14RTrbxUQlt8Y_ya0GcGSpE1Wkz4z-6DA/s320/trailofdead_worlds.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><u>Worlds Apart</u>: The logical conclusion of their increasingly orchestral major-label experimentation, this record is often derided as the one where the band 'lost it'; rather, it's better seen as what it is – a major label rock record that has its radio tracks ('The Rest Will Follow', 'Worlds Apart', 'Caterwaul') while also putting front-and-centre difficult percussion-led jam sessions like the brilliant 'Will You Smile Again For Me', Pink Floyd-lite 'All White' and thrashy stop-start rocker 'The Best'. For all this, it's incredibly coherent and consistently brilliant. Take it from me: this is no guilty pleasure, but a legitimately fantastic album, and probably their best. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><u><br />
</u> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXkNu8K76tmyM8idgbGTl3pvqruueZK6pZV0os5iSpuAOr1su3Bs3pmTmJMbm_iBdz6kqDowetOyJB_JEOPuGt-ejkABmpH1dUWJRpiVff2dfgGRj_s8s28EpjENknKqsSvA15NV9SQ/s1600/b000j210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXkNu8K76tmyM8idgbGTl3pvqruueZK6pZV0os5iSpuAOr1su3Bs3pmTmJMbm_iBdz6kqDowetOyJB_JEOPuGt-ejkABmpH1dUWJRpiVff2dfgGRj_s8s28EpjENknKqsSvA15NV9SQ/s320/b000j210.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><u>So Divided</u>: There's a little bit of truth to the idea that the band lost their way on this record; still, for fans of Worlds Apart there's still a consistent, enjoyable album to be found once you scratch at the surface; even so, don't expect any of the same dizzy heights of Worlds Apart. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSarcWcX7TbGuieN2qKhc_3n_rJ7PLZNl96e9Nsq69RanBSVNbxF10LklogT4TGpjc8nyPu3BuWed2Zh9KlUtsEDaAZMGDQ5ZidKYqNb_dHJ9bKAFMm0sWGP1ZPxmt5FJexT1spR1Kg/s1600/The_Century_of_Self_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSarcWcX7TbGuieN2qKhc_3n_rJ7PLZNl96e9Nsq69RanBSVNbxF10LklogT4TGpjc8nyPu3BuWed2Zh9KlUtsEDaAZMGDQ5ZidKYqNb_dHJ9bKAFMm0sWGP1ZPxmt5FJexT1spR1Kg/s1600/The_Century_of_Self_cover.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><u>Century of Self</u>: A true return to form, openers 'Far Pavilions' and 'Isis Unveiled' are two of the best ...Trail of Dead songs, full-stop. 'Bells of Creation' and 'Inland Sea' are at atmospheric foil to the slash-and-burn introduction, while 'Fields of Coal' has a euphoric indie-rock feel similar to 'Worlds Apart'; the vocals and lyrics are spot on and it's consquently one of the more enduring tracks from the record. 'Ascending' briefly recalls early ...Trail of Dead and gives a hint of what was to follow on Tao of the Dead with up-tempo major chords shot through with gang vocals and dual drumkit counter-rhythms. Though much of the later album is taken up with 'Insatiable' parts one and two, there's also anthemic ballad 'Pictures of an Only Child' to enjoy; it's an oddity enough in terms of their general modus operandi to mark it out, but there's something perfect in the line “I'm standing with Eric and Mom beside a Taj Mahal/convinced that I am gonna be a writer and a movie star” that keeps me returning to it. ...Trail of Dead have more confessional and personal tracks, but somehow the effect of the whole is rather greater than its parts in this case. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><u><br />
</u> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYh63bCTvEmwGaJF9Ub9ajcTMjl6fz_QqYti_2r0dVqejvjq4APwP4AaWxYJpNTriVJdRrHXfp0izTNGbH_QFTuSTaHVpgj4DSWukpPQEO4AO6xQsI0toG-jB3ojSLY3KF_Yd8hTmvEg/s1600/600full-tao-of-the-dead-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYh63bCTvEmwGaJF9Ub9ajcTMjl6fz_QqYti_2r0dVqejvjq4APwP4AaWxYJpNTriVJdRrHXfp0izTNGbH_QFTuSTaHVpgj4DSWukpPQEO4AO6xQsI0toG-jB3ojSLY3KF_Yd8hTmvEg/s320/600full-tao-of-the-dead-cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><u>Tao of the Dead</u>: In my humble opinion, this remarkable two-song concept album is the best ...Trail of Dead album, hands down. It's rocky in an unpretentious, straight-up way, but also brings in a lot of the experimental elements from their previous albums. There may only be a single drum kit on this record, but the rhythm section remains just as prominent, and if anything boasts a little more clarity than before. As an introduction, try 'Pure Radio Cosplay', 'Summer of All Dead Souls', or 'Weight of the Sun' and then lose yourself in this wonderfully fluid set of songs. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-54161919888661475302012-04-13T14:40:00.000+01:002012-04-13T14:40:00.355+01:00<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRj0AzA7aTruoqkNU_phIJ2HCUwUlWVvPPbGsaE4FucrKFxzA-VVM2eSuIrpKapBB8_SMiMAtWXX0Hjw81htWDdjgwIUExpSZ_p-42WWgPPy8uSMfgA-oE9U7bn7tFuUjRY6ZMl-C-1g/s1600/885417044324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRj0AzA7aTruoqkNU_phIJ2HCUwUlWVvPPbGsaE4FucrKFxzA-VVM2eSuIrpKapBB8_SMiMAtWXX0Hjw81htWDdjgwIUExpSZ_p-42WWgPPy8uSMfgA-oE9U7bn7tFuUjRY6ZMl-C-1g/s320/885417044324.jpg" width="315" /></a><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Pure Reason Revolution</span></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Hammer and Anvil</span></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Superball Music</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Rating: 4.5/5 </span></span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">I don't know why it's taken me so long to pick up the final Pure Reason Revolution album, but after a single listen it's clear that's my loss. You may already be aware of single 'Fight Fire', the most overtly confrontational tune the band have penned, as well as Valour EP and live favourite 'Black Mourning', but aside from that I'm of the impression that this was their least successful and least well-received. Why that should be, I have to admit, escapes me completely. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">First off, it's worth dropping in the music geek cred point: this album, unlike PRR's previous work, was co-written with Tom Bellamy (ex-Cooper Temple Clause), and I don't think I'm imagining things when I say that this fact is felt throughout the album. The sounds and textures will be familiar to any fans of electronic offering Amor Vincit Omnia, but the way that the songs are structured as well as some of the chords definitely recall the Coopers, and save for expansive set-piece 'Open Insurrection', the song length feels distinctly restrained compared to previous outings. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">Highlights come in the form of the aforementioned 'Open Insurrection', with its huge 'When the Levee Breaks' style drums, 'Patriarch', with its intricate synthesiser textures, and 'Last Man, Last Round' with its grinding samples and spaced-out pianos. 'Valour' delivers the most sweeping PRR chorus since 'In Aurélia' from their first EP, and has a similarly thrilling interplay between Chloe and Jon's vocals. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">By the time 'Armistice' has faded, there's no doubt that this album is of equal quality to the rest of PRR's back catalogue, and that moreover it's a further step forward, building on the huge break that Amor Vincit Omnia represented. To fans of the whole Pure Reason back catalogue it's a must-own, but it also serves again to remind of the disconnect between their fan base and their ultimate ambition. For all their professed acceptance of 'progressive' music, it certainly feels like the more closed-minded prog fans that joined the PRR camp left them hung out to dry as soon as they began doing some more genuinely progressive material. Hammer & Anvil is the closest the band come to melding their progressive and electronic tendencies, yet it proved their swansong. Isn't that a little sad?</div>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-34730966666955076482012-04-12T14:35:00.003+01:002012-04-12T14:35:00.141+01:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcCuPh5thliyNEHt5L-IHVeSIwTERFzAoeBUPLmydcwqCQFYLizq1TNVgahsdkpmSC3mIMQsg6eYuIb4jwy_50NnwUSZFwXPyp8YFSMyl1lBlMvHc4cjkLLYbhnBV-Ws7-o2z7eADOA/s1600/0000605625_350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcCuPh5thliyNEHt5L-IHVeSIwTERFzAoeBUPLmydcwqCQFYLizq1TNVgahsdkpmSC3mIMQsg6eYuIb4jwy_50NnwUSZFwXPyp8YFSMyl1lBlMvHc4cjkLLYbhnBV-Ws7-o2z7eADOA/s320/0000605625_350.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jetplane Landing </span></span></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Once Like a Spark</span></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Smalltown America Records </span></span></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Rating: 4/5 </span></span></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">Like drop-D? Like early Biffy Clyro? A fan of At the Drive-In, pissed off that they never made a follow-up to Relationship of Command? Well, I've just the thing. Once Like a Spark is looking a little dated now; the band's second release on Small Town America back at the opening of the last decade, it's more of a contemporary piece to the work of the aforementioned bands than some kind of imitation piece, and it's that crucial detail that makes this worthwhile.</div><div></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">Where a lot of the post-hardcore bands putting out records in the early two-thousands seemed to delight in a kind of obstinate, stubborn lo-fi, it's almost refreshing that Jetplane Landing eschew that approach and instead opt for a higher-standard production. The rich guitar tones in opener 'The Violence' and 'Brave Gravity' are a delight to the listener, and for all the moments of scratchy guitar, there's at least as many that boast a huge, full rock sound fit for banging your head along to. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">'I Opt Out' is kind of like if Canadian alt-rockers Our Lady Peace discovered Incubus and alternative tunings. Thick and heavy on the choruses and swaggering in the verses it nevertheless distinguishes itself with an unusually modal melody that for some reason recalls OLP's dabbling with Eastern-flavoured chromaticism. 'Calculate the Risk' is straight back to ATD-I territory, while 'Do it... Now!' and 'Writing the Ways Down' are the token ballads.</div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">Ultimately you may have heard it all before, but Jetplane Landing still have plenty to offer if you're a fan of this particular brand of post-hardcore. Listening to the angular attack of tunes like 'There Is No Real Courage Unless There Is Real Danger' and taking them as they were intended, Jetplane Landing are simply a great rock band with no frills attached; enjoy them as such and you won't go wrong. </div>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-11303272534248817812012-04-11T14:28:00.006+01:002012-04-11T14:28:00.121+01:00<div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv1mqyF6xUIvqwFudBIG_EiRM3yUXzhh9lPL8iK_UkdrtCEJyDb32bGwfMkPOZGggr8GgM1LfwZYIOP4f125-VeXsu4ECfF1nox29Amh6h85C4YCepHT85apIVTModaBaaLzaodcZNxQ/s1600/1627991098-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv1mqyF6xUIvqwFudBIG_EiRM3yUXzhh9lPL8iK_UkdrtCEJyDb32bGwfMkPOZGggr8GgM1LfwZYIOP4f125-VeXsu4ECfF1nox29Amh6h85C4YCepHT85apIVTModaBaaLzaodcZNxQ/s320/1627991098-1.jpg" width="309" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thula Borah </span></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Live Secretly</span></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: small;">Self-Release</span></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-large;">4/5</span></span></div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Okay, you'll have to allow me to spoil the end of this one for you – if you like Mogwai, you'll like Thula Borah. What's on offer is atmospheric post-rock of a slightly pensive pace that ebbs and flows with all of the natural metaphors that you can imagine, so I'll spare you the descriptions and do a quick track-by-track instead. </span></div><div> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Track one, 'Organic Paranoia' is the most electronic of the EP tracks; akin to a slower tune from 65daysofstatic or Maybeshewill, it's a fittingly gentle introduction to the EP. 'Skye Falling', on the other hand is more of a traditional alt-rock song, with some pleasant washes of post-rock texture amid the Hum-like walls of fuzz. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">'Murder' is perhaps 'arbitrarily' post-rock when compared to the EP tracks; though it's still great, you could graphically represent it by drawing a line across a graph, angled at thirty degrees – yes, it's one of those. '(Null Interface)' follows, and endowed with more of a verse-chorus approach to the dynamics, the heavy sections have rather more of an impact than as a 'logical conclusion' to the song.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="western" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Closing on 'Violence is Forever', there's once again a gradual build and huge release – but that's to be expected for the final track of a post-rock mini-album. Suitably cinematic in sweep, it nevertheless drives home the fact that if you're not a fan of post-rock you won't like this band; if you are, then welcome aboard. Thula Borah are certainly more talented than the majority of post-rock also rans, but make no mistake: their genre of music is under no dispute. </span></div>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-20368709035067732042012-04-10T17:52:00.001+01:002012-04-10T17:52:00.418+01:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDGNLLDffFtC4jq4LizZzbgcDzlf9BY_3G9OZmwmj1NFctwa39I2y0gQ7JKQmPj_nvBXCPZZsBDh38MR0orh9m9qzilMI-PEET7BT5Ii4yIN0LULL6aHXDkD9M7BXt_5UYKbVXt71cdQ/s1600/2293947681-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDGNLLDffFtC4jq4LizZzbgcDzlf9BY_3G9OZmwmj1NFctwa39I2y0gQ7JKQmPj_nvBXCPZZsBDh38MR0orh9m9qzilMI-PEET7BT5Ii4yIN0LULL6aHXDkD9M7BXt_5UYKbVXt71cdQ/s320/2293947681-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: x-large;">Everyone an Army</span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">A Coastal Dance on the Grave of Romance</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Self-Release</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">4.5/5</span></span></span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I know what you're thinking – that's a pretty long title for an EP. Well, yes it is; it wouldn't take Sherlock Holmes to spot that one, but don't be put off by its hipster implications. To steal a line from Richard Pryor, “they don't play that shit” - instead what's on offer is some '90s-ish alt rock with a shade of modern post-rock and progressive in the mix. </span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The title track stops and starts, growls and fuzzes like the best tracks of Siamese Dream, but instead of the angsty rage of Billy Corgan the overall vibe is kept somewhere left of the early Muse material. It's dramatic and drips gravitas, but remains anchored to something more earthy; this I suspect is more a function of their vocal range than a conscious decision.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Track two, 'Versailles', continues this theme – again we're faced with Pumpkins-esque guitars, but this time the vocals borrow more from Maynard's work with Perfect Circle; there's a subtle sense of harmonic depth and the way the guitars and vocals interplay is terrific. 'Venous Hum' on the other hand is more akin to Failure's second album Magnified, or perhaps cult US act Exeter. There's the same space-rock affectation as well as driving bass riffs, and the chorus has a suitably baroque charm to it; while not as storming as the previous two tracks, it's a given that there's already an audience that would love this.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Closer 'The Christmas Truce' represents a change in gear; taking a more shoegaze-indebted – and indeed noisier – approach to creating the textures leads to a muted slow-burner of a track, rife with neat melodic ideas and confluences of harmony in unexpected places. After an almost obligatory breakdown there's a great Oceansize-y section that reminds of 'Paper Champion' from the Music for Nurses EP to close. </span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Perhaps the only criticism that can be levelled at such a strong collection of tracks as this is whether or not the hints of leftfield development in the tracks will lead them in more abstract, experimental directions on later material. At present EAA dip their toe in the waters, but by-and-large seem content to be a well-honed alternative rock band; who knows if this will change in future. </span></span></div>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-51878690846861120122012-03-20T22:44:00.000+00:002012-03-20T22:44:55.819+00:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNyH0gwu57YEyDihJ0qSkm35JIMjonAIFbc0JBIbr5i5PKjIPJSKoE5MbXmO312uRslLwzppllxfj-9FklAXzbJXZF7n107YyGisz131hiRsNbfJtO88E1ESFyZ7Pjhz6yGRYV7OIrQ/s1600/yeti-lane-the-echo-show1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNyH0gwu57YEyDihJ0qSkm35JIMjonAIFbc0JBIbr5i5PKjIPJSKoE5MbXmO312uRslLwzppllxfj-9FklAXzbJXZF7n107YyGisz131hiRsNbfJtO88E1ESFyZ7Pjhz6yGRYV7OIrQ/s320/yeti-lane-the-echo-show1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Yeti Lane</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The Echo Show</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sonic Cathedral</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Rating: 4/5</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Fucking hell. Has it really been a month since my last post? Okay, I mean I have been writing stuff for <i>Prog </i>and <i>DIY </i>but that does seem like quite a while even for me. Sheesh. Anyway, it's time for an album that nobody else was foolish enough to let me have a crack at - Yeti Lane's difficult second, <i>The Echo Show</i>. Now, I'm going to spoil the ending by pointing out that nearly every review has been overwhelmingly positive about this record, and I'm not about to break that trend. I am, however, going to talk about something other than the stunning first track, 'Analog Wheel'. Yes it's brilliant, kosmiche, swirling, physchedelia, Neu! etc., but there's also like an hour of other music on there that isn't getting mentioned. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Without wanting to get into a track-by-track style review, an example of this would be the title track, (and track two) 'The Echo Show'; as more consistently found on the rest of the record, though it's fair to draw krautrock comparisons, perhaps more relevant sonic touchstones would be The Beta Band and (latterly) The Aliens. I'll grant that the drums do come very much from that heritage, but the spindly electronic fragments and ethereal vocals that define the record are of an altogether more modern pedigree. 'Logic Winds', for instance has the ring of The Flaming Lips or Nice Nice about it, while 'Alba' is like Jason Lytle's finest post-Grandaddy downtempo offerings. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">For me the real elephant in the room however is The Secret Machines - I mean, once you get over the obvious fact that Josh Garza isn't in the drum stool then there's definitely something beyond a simple liberal referencing of influences. I listen to 'Faded Spectrum' and hear the noisy wig-out that could have occurred if... wait... hang on... how did the beginning of 'First Wave Intact' go?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Anyway, whatever <i>bands </i>it sounds like, the record is sort of what everybody says it is; a great alternative record that touches playfully on the most tongue-in-cheek electronic sounds while still having the nous to accomodate a good, old-fashioned guitar wig out now and then. Brilliant. </span></div>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-47301306436295978072012-02-26T00:37:00.000+00:002012-02-26T00:37:28.672+00:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj92l0gSvwUP4KQmVIbKxgJXAAkHCRAC6a5L8SfjWLV6inNGorGFSHibyZgX5qSfekRDgfeLw_hPoJth7XoRlR05Zx6n-k-kUD2Z4hNc312EPzWut76UVBoFiKcYHKMNkt8PJXg2rNd7Q/s1600/racecar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj92l0gSvwUP4KQmVIbKxgJXAAkHCRAC6a5L8SfjWLV6inNGorGFSHibyZgX5qSfekRDgfeLw_hPoJth7XoRlR05Zx6n-k-kUD2Z4hNc312EPzWut76UVBoFiKcYHKMNkt8PJXg2rNd7Q/s320/racecar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Reuben</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Racecar is Racecar Backwards</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">Rating: 4.5/5</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The list of bands I was too bigoted against to appreciate while they still existed grows again by one. So, let's quickly deal with the <i>why </i>I was an idiot - and then we can get to talking about this record. Basically it was two things; first, a show where Reuben played in my hometown and acted like little prima donnas, and second, that a bunch of pretty douchey guys and fucking emo kids liked them. Erm, that's about it really. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So, of course, when I finally took the time to actually listen to them properly it naturally turned out that they were fucking ace. Their second album isn't much to write home about, but their first really is; the best way I can explain it as a shoutier version of the album Septembre could have made if they'd ever actually gotten their shit together (and I fucking <i>loved </i>Septembre). </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The singles 'Let's Stop Hanging Out' and 'Freddy Kreuger' are naturally ace, but the opener 'No One Wins The War' really is the song that sells the album. Rocky, catchy and with a little off-kilter jagginess to the riffs, it's a little like the aforementioned Septembre's track 'Always' and really sets the tone (and pace) for the record to come. Personally, my favourite is 'Tonight, My Wife Is Your Wife', which, so the story goes at least, is actually about the town I grew up in. Ace. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lyrically, there's a good shot of wry humour as well as the same bitterness that would eventually lead to their 'greatest hits' being called <i>We Should Have Gone to University</i>; there's a lot of focus on friends moving away to college and stuck-up girls, but then that's sort of what you'd expect for a young rock band from the commuter belt. Post-album single 'Moving to Blackwater' is the epitome of this; only people living in Surrey of a certain age can really get where they're coming from with that in-joke, but you begin to feel that maybe their prima donna-esque angst about their lack of success wasn't so unwarranted after all. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In conclusion then, a great straightforward rock record with not a weak song on it; if you're in any way into the British post-grunge bands that spawned around the turn of the millennium then you need to own this record.</span></div>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-31443834196078633532012-01-30T22:21:00.000+00:002012-01-30T22:21:19.795+00:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi79XK0NI7i3kExD15flSOEmmHnLge7GQN4St758PciXUSmD-diijdkwo1cm4u3PFXwPrQh3NGUXomLa-MPsinvVy8uK8d8LYfpemXu7x_QsvA1SUUml3Det4WIMDObG47AYTfaVxwR-Q/s1600/ire-works.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi79XK0NI7i3kExD15flSOEmmHnLge7GQN4St758PciXUSmD-diijdkwo1cm4u3PFXwPrQh3NGUXomLa-MPsinvVy8uK8d8LYfpemXu7x_QsvA1SUUml3Det4WIMDObG47AYTfaVxwR-Q/s320/ire-works.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The Dillinger Escape Plan</span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Ire Works</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Relapse Records</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Out Now</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Rating: 5/5</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now, I'm actually a believer that for the most part you can tell if you're going to like a band before you even hear them. Whether it's from a vague idea of the sort of guys and gals that listen to the band or the direction and density of hype you've been in the way of, prejudiced though it may be, you have a pretty good bullshit barometer built right in. Obviously however, there are a few bands that slip the net, and TDEP sadly are just one of those such bands, and a welcome reminder that despite gut feelings it's always worth checking a band out just in case. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">From having listened to them, I can see that the screamo-emo-whatever kids that infested (I choose my words carefully) my home town were probably name-dropping TDEP just to be out-there or to avoid saying "My Chemical Romance" too much when asked about bands at parties, but bigotry aside their back catalogue is really worth checking out. I recently said to friends that as a band they were simply "necessary", and I'm not sure that I can totally better that description of their music. Extreme, mathy and laden with (depending on the record) over-produced flourishes, glitch electronic or overwrought metal theatrics, the bedrock of the music is nevertheless edgy and scattershot, not so much ebbing and flowing as striking and withdrawing. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Ire Works </i>is incredible as an album - coherent, and flowing together with almost a prog-rock devotion to the format, it's also quite mind-boggling that only three out of thirteen songs clock in at over four minutes. 'Fix Your Face' and 'Lurch' combine to make a brutal opening salvo, kinetic riffs clocking up the intensity and the b.p.m. before 'Black Bubblegum' swaggers in with some wrong-footing pop sensibility. 'Sick on Sunday' brings things back to task, closing on an excellent faux Deftones art rock chug before 'Nong Eye Gong' and 'When Acting as a Wave' thrash out once more, the latter a paranoid back-and-forth motion of guitar slashes and glitch full-stops. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The latter half of the album sees the tracks lengthen and the chords expand; 'Milk Lizard' is the closest the band come to radio-friendly, while 'Dead as History' is a slice of progressive metal that Tool would rightly be proud of. 'Mouths of Ghosts', the closer, actually sounds like a strange mix of The Who and Bowie for the first half of the track, moving in shades of quasi-world music eastern scales and rhythms. When the track finally cuts loose, bizarrely it kind of sounds like post-<i>Make Yourself </i>Incubus, Greg Puciato coming across with a Brandon Boyd sized croon and Ben Weinman's guitars becoming truly stadium-sized. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Extreme, original, thrilling, and utterly, utterly mental, this album is absolutely essential in every important way. </span></div>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-46432874382243274602012-01-25T13:52:00.000+00:002012-01-25T13:52:20.863+00:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-vT0od7iVK3ZMslR48DDJkLqTDePZtsH3sA7rexcsQKMv4vShn5lCQLFM6ex7yh9RNnekWMR-H6d3vjBSqDEYZYPThRewmXhGZLBHVXJZJ6jwgr5yfp03gPrSQtzOK567u0l5SSVuQ/s1600/2983737238-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-vT0od7iVK3ZMslR48DDJkLqTDePZtsH3sA7rexcsQKMv4vShn5lCQLFM6ex7yh9RNnekWMR-H6d3vjBSqDEYZYPThRewmXhGZLBHVXJZJ6jwgr5yfp03gPrSQtzOK567u0l5SSVuQ/s320/2983737238-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Andrew Danso</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">f i n d</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Self-Released</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Rating: 4/5</span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have a slightly dumb-sounding question to put to you – what would you get if you took Steve Vai's Fire Garden and invited ambient remixes? Well, not Andrew Danso, but I think that's a reasonable jumping off point. Throughout f i n d you get the impression that there's a veritable torrent of playing ability dammed back for the sake of aesthetic effect, whether it's the pleasant trip-hop of opener 'Go Again' or the '80s R.E.M.-lite 'Walk Walk Sunshine'. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">'Liar MD' has some of The Three EPs about it, while 'Rain, Go' is more of a Porcupine Tree sketch; it's worth mentioning at this juncture though that due to the general brevity of the tracks on this album there's a lot of scope for Andrew Danso to experiment around with style and influences. In doing so, he creates a rich tapestry of sounds that on balance are actually best enjoyed without the tracklisting, without clicking over to your iTunes, without monitoring the progress of the record. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ultimately it's probably best described as new age progressive in the mould of the great Mike Oldfield, nevertheless f i n d's expansive sonic landscape prevents it from being a one-trick pony. Experimental yet fluid, engaging and accessible, this highly melodic work is a must for all 'progressive' fans.</span></div><br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3259409641/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400">&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://andrewdanso.bandcamp.com/album/f-i-n-d"&amp;amp;gt;f i n d by Andrew Danso&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</iframe>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-61530348350754000152012-01-12T22:28:00.001+00:002012-01-12T22:29:16.812+00:00<div><object width="380" height="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.mixcloud.com/media/swf/player/mixcloudLoader.swf?feed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fsuperstar_destroyer%2Fyou-cant-keep-a-bad-man-downssd-podcast-20%2F&embed_uuid=bcf0c122-8fcb-4c0b-b4ab-6dcca16d3a8a&stylecolor=&embed_type=widget_standard"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="wmode" value="opaque"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.mixcloud.com/media/swf/player/mixcloudLoader.swf?feed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fsuperstar_destroyer%2Fyou-cant-keep-a-bad-man-downssd-podcast-20%2F&embed_uuid=bcf0c122-8fcb-4c0b-b4ab-6dcca16d3a8a&stylecolor=&embed_type=widget_standard" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="opaque" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="380" height="480"></embed></object><div style="clear:both; height:3px;"></div><p style="display:block; font-size:12px; font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin:0; padding: 3px 4px; color:#02a0c7;"><a href="http://www.mixcloud.com/superstar_destroyer/you-cant-keep-a-bad-man-downssd-podcast-20/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=resource_link" target="_blank" style="color:#02a0c7; font-weight:bold;">You Can't Keep A Bad Man Down//SSD Podcast #20</a><span> by </span><a href="http://www.mixcloud.com/superstar_destroyer/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=profile_link" target="_blank" style="color:#02a0c7; font-weight:bold;">Superstar Destroyer</a><span> on </span><a href="http://www.mixcloud.com/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=homepage_link" target="_blank" style="color:#02a0c7; font-weight:bold;"> Mixcloud</a></p><div style="clear:both; height:3px;"></div></div>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-90315502066585906702011-12-26T22:04:00.000+00:002011-12-26T22:04:11.423+00:00What is Music? - Best of 2011 List<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ok, I should basically start out by saying that I've already written a list for <i>Classic Rock Presents: Prog</i>, and will be writing a quick one for the SSD blog, but this is going to be different to both. This is mainly due to an unhelpful mixture of forgetfulness, stupidity, and not having to choose from only records reviewed in <i>Classic Rock</i>...!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So, that's the disclaimer out of the way - time to talk about some records!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><u>Top LPs</u></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjleghDSdUJ2UFRUBlkI0ABE1P90zQUdRS7eEMB7XqCwW0ASXCT28OyANURHPPox5vHlJe8csN19Cmh_u3QhhBneljMGKgDrlJKn2JJUUQ1Izi9ExNRyrW5zd6wBIwF6lrKyPzpCMEnQQ/s1600/51msjjHaB7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjleghDSdUJ2UFRUBlkI0ABE1P90zQUdRS7eEMB7XqCwW0ASXCT28OyANURHPPox5vHlJe8csN19Cmh_u3QhhBneljMGKgDrlJKn2JJUUQ1Izi9ExNRyrW5zd6wBIwF6lrKyPzpCMEnQQ/s1600/51msjjHaB7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">1. Tao of the Dead - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A punk record with the attitude of a prog record... or is it the other way round? Either way, it's without a doubt the most accomplished, and let's face it, downright <i>cool </i>record of the year.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAYEDbuSvjelBUNxk5hIpfad-pXf6DM1lqKxnQrPJHdTOkRYne41auvxQRknTdd9P8f0j9emy-k2FkOYy3fmN865PasQf_X7FpXxeXSiczfHHwtRyvivofH_2Eurn2yoA2Awp4G3S8A/s1600/ttt_idea_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAYEDbuSvjelBUNxk5hIpfad-pXf6DM1lqKxnQrPJHdTOkRYne41auvxQRknTdd9P8f0j9emy-k2FkOYy3fmN865PasQf_X7FpXxeXSiczfHHwtRyvivofH_2Eurn2yoA2Awp4G3S8A/s1600/ttt_idea_1.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">2. Route One Or Die - Three Trapped Tigers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In terms of 'originality', or indeed anything even remotely approaching it, there's only one real contender - <i>Route One Or Die</i>. Bizarre, challenging, angular, but melodic as fuck - it's totally thrilling. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvXTFFWaCGvgbU3y85fqLjsw-RGzCoDlBwaP3RObod6w2ff9MxgX-Md74P7aEx-EqDoP5u3DZxm0CtI-weFIJw1jnIseb-4ktL_LA8yunvy8z0vbCJXkCZxTehyN_M5HHzCXZJhMV8w/s1600/_jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvXTFFWaCGvgbU3y85fqLjsw-RGzCoDlBwaP3RObod6w2ff9MxgX-Md74P7aEx-EqDoP5u3DZxm0CtI-weFIJw1jnIseb-4ktL_LA8yunvy8z0vbCJXkCZxTehyN_M5HHzCXZJhMV8w/s320/_jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">3. Gangs - And So I Watch You From Afar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When this came out, it looked like the album of the year was theirs... but then 2011 has been an exceptional year. Up there with the finest instrumental guitar records I've ever heard, <i>Gangs </i>combines virtuosic guitar playing with finely-honed songwriting, expressed in a traditional band format. It's geeky, it's esoteric, but it's equally accessible - and that's why their stumble at the end of this year was so tragic. For ASIWYFA, this is likely to be the apogee of their career. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtcuCVaV4N2nW-fTKxY-P0YkrtaSqSjcbGDB9dWeN3ub8GHKqbt-IepVIFfkfRCp27qc1BivOI6XzCKCSbLn9HKEiOaFN-QG6GlVWYwM_1c63LT_fvEY5DpSLVBXKWk54PxdO9fuF5A/s1600/1fcdddf045e9ef457f2b35230af67640_bromance_3.jpeg.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtcuCVaV4N2nW-fTKxY-P0YkrtaSqSjcbGDB9dWeN3ub8GHKqbt-IepVIFfkfRCp27qc1BivOI6XzCKCSbLn9HKEiOaFN-QG6GlVWYwM_1c63LT_fvEY5DpSLVBXKWk54PxdO9fuF5A/s320/1fcdddf045e9ef457f2b35230af67640_bromance_3.jpeg.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">4. Sans Souci - Brontide</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Led Zeppelin do math-rock, channel Oceansize, rock harder than is reasonable. If you don't have this record, you <i>need </i>it. </span><br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=1291689333/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400">&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://juliannabarwick.bandcamp.com/album/the-magic-place"&amp;amp;gt;The Magic Place by Julianna Barwick&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">5. The Magic Place - Julianna Barwick</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">All vocals, all looping, all the time. Jokes aside, Julianna Barwick's new album really does create something truly mesmerising out of her improvised sound collages. It's not going to be for everyone, but it's worth checking out. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpmzQnEHOYAeO0kdy60IrSDA_PMIk7MT-WskcU95F7Ejc7y6nFm-J0PRLcuMWQuZjB-8mRoZG60ffgQGfduVGiBFWtCp4_1KM61QoE4k9SKhWdYeVwVrnoxP1BYnxIji1gzReo6FT0w/s1600/Vessels+Helioscope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpmzQnEHOYAeO0kdy60IrSDA_PMIk7MT-WskcU95F7Ejc7y6nFm-J0PRLcuMWQuZjB-8mRoZG60ffgQGfduVGiBFWtCp4_1KM61QoE4k9SKhWdYeVwVrnoxP1BYnxIji1gzReo6FT0w/s320/Vessels+Helioscope.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">6. Helioscope - Vessels</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A winner for Stuart Warwick's contribution to 'Meatman, Piano Tuner, Prostitute' alone, <i>Helioscope</i> marks Vessels out as serious contenders on the post-rock scene, and wipes the floor with their sometimes aimless début <i>White Fields and Open Devices</i>. Brilliant. </span><br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=411765482/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400">&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://mattstevens.bandcamp.com/album/relic"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Relic by Matt Stevens&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">7. Relic - Matt Stevens</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">More instrumental guitar, this time in a downtempo way. Matt Stevens' work ethic with TFATD is admirable, and to bedroom musicians the world over he's an inspirational case of the triumph of true artistry through hard work and talent. </span><br />
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<object height="305" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F842213"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="305" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F842213" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <a href="http://soundcloud.com/workit/sets/dananananaykroyd-tiaw">Dananananaykroyd - There Is A Way</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/workit">WorkItMedia</a> <br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">8. There Is A Way - Dananananaykroyd</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In a word: FUN! RIP Dananananananananananananananan.....</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqhJbk1eCDkd1-Vl_YYzP2-_uqI08FNluJBZoDtiom23eYbu2BEQiduJOITzCDaq8yOFruvqTIrHqHkQYwX5-rB03Tpm05eivE5OWamWM-YRX-4ZU2tV6dBuw4-VP3_A5Sdn2drUiVYQ/s1600/Mogwai-Hardcore-Will-Never-Die-But-You-Will.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqhJbk1eCDkd1-Vl_YYzP2-_uqI08FNluJBZoDtiom23eYbu2BEQiduJOITzCDaq8yOFruvqTIrHqHkQYwX5-rB03Tpm05eivE5OWamWM-YRX-4ZU2tV6dBuw4-VP3_A5Sdn2drUiVYQ/s320/Mogwai-Hardcore-Will-Never-Die-But-You-Will.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">9. Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will - Mogwai</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">'George Square Thatcher Death Party'; need I say more?</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXaWquz4cgQ45y0Y1lZcp9q4mso403sZxdCiLko075VGxMxD7l_uRUGDxNlpGFYa-FHSHtfeASffNLNRuIgiiLloYU7smp3gw9wwLbUU7zBKToH01WgcU8-fnz_V6ma31pAOGh2uBMQ/s1600/In_May_11_White_Hills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXaWquz4cgQ45y0Y1lZcp9q4mso403sZxdCiLko075VGxMxD7l_uRUGDxNlpGFYa-FHSHtfeASffNLNRuIgiiLloYU7smp3gw9wwLbUU7zBKToH01WgcU8-fnz_V6ma31pAOGh2uBMQ/s1600/In_May_11_White_Hills.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">10. H-p1 - White Hills</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Drones, drones and more motorik beats than you can shake a stick at. 'Paradise' may well be the most hypnotic track of the year. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJVWSPAbFt_3O_e9rqFmJFL6dpkREZf_cB5yh-wxCNsf_9jqBR4e_cuvQ39cDxa0JzuvZkC7WG78unZ54u44BNI-HlcHTcmb9cmqQf3KVtbzxyqoVyPj0eAhyOS7Dv7WAOIlC-sJVvA/s1600/1304655371_maybeshewill-i-was-here-for-a-moment-then-i-was-gone-2011.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJVWSPAbFt_3O_e9rqFmJFL6dpkREZf_cB5yh-wxCNsf_9jqBR4e_cuvQ39cDxa0JzuvZkC7WG78unZ54u44BNI-HlcHTcmb9cmqQf3KVtbzxyqoVyPj0eAhyOS7Dv7WAOIlC-sJVvA/s320/1304655371_maybeshewill-i-was-here-for-a-moment-then-i-was-gone-2011.png" width="316" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">11. I Was Here For A Moment, Then I Was Gone - Maybeshewill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Though the album as a whole wasn't as good as some of its high points, Maybeshewill continue to go from strength to strength, and their word-of-mouth fanbase deservedly continues to grow. That said, this is only a record for those of the post-rock persuasion. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgza2cdcZbqyz-jLn6Leis8mnP0vy36Zh2A5exb7aEUYV8aEXwTc1dsRhZGWHC26J0amjLExsBAVri-zr2Eq2CpTFfsEfm5oqsOu-FHqMzie2ZWv8R14OZmPIGChEmivF0Qn4pgQUqDgw/s1600/The+Joy+Formidable+-+The+Big+Roar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgza2cdcZbqyz-jLn6Leis8mnP0vy36Zh2A5exb7aEUYV8aEXwTc1dsRhZGWHC26J0amjLExsBAVri-zr2Eq2CpTFfsEfm5oqsOu-FHqMzie2ZWv8R14OZmPIGChEmivF0Qn4pgQUqDgw/s1600/The+Joy+Formidable+-+The+Big+Roar.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">12. The Big Roar - The Joy Formidable</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Grunge meets shoegaze meets post-rock. What? Those all came from the same bands? Well I guess they've come home to roost then. Apart from the drumfail in 'A Heavy Abacus' (where's the double-time chorus, guys?) I don't have a bad word to say about this record.</span><br />
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<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=4184908679/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400">&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://firesuite.bandcamp.com/album/youre-an-ocean-deep-my-brother"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;You're An Ocean Deep, My Brother by Firesuite&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">13. You're An Ocean Deep, My Brother - Firesuite</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Picking up where Failure left off, or Cave In circa <i>Antenna</i>, at their highest peaks Firesuite marshall something elemental in their furious, atmospheric (or should that be trans-atmospheric?) space rock. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_HQTf1Uifq4/TvjqePjZwUI/AAAAAAAAAWI/yKp1M0zma6k/s1600/0744861093923.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_HQTf1Uifq4/TvjqePjZwUI/AAAAAAAAAWI/yKp1M0zma6k/s320/0744861093923.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">13. Violet Cries - Esben and the Witch</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sinister as hell, but beautiful all the same. A marmite record which will either sound like drifting fog in Winter committed to tape or a painful, pointless dirge. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTnjyfceAuhAbv2gOZHBLOWjwTuRk55_ULwz2EAiq4HNA6HOz67J8jfEr0HsgfZNrKKvxjFCr0NoH5ulwZYwxNUwKORFnjUsrYKpCSc5ztxcYIY4U3c5TD0JM1Ex6HJmLepcJTQssAeA/s1600/FairewellPoorPoorGrendel600Gb011211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTnjyfceAuhAbv2gOZHBLOWjwTuRk55_ULwz2EAiq4HNA6HOz67J8jfEr0HsgfZNrKKvxjFCr0NoH5ulwZYwxNUwKORFnjUsrYKpCSc5ztxcYIY4U3c5TD0JM1Ex6HJmLepcJTQssAeA/s320/FairewellPoorPoorGrendel600Gb011211.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">14. Poor, Poor Grendel - Fairewell</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Though it has its eccentricities, there are some touching moments on Fairewell's bedroom record. Strong when soundscaping, weaker when attempting the dream-rock, it'll be interesting to see what Jonny does next. </span><br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=1950412426/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400">&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://casinozone.bandcamp.com/album/grievous-bodily-harmison"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Grievous Bodily Harmison by Casino Zone&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">15. Grievous Bodily Harmison - Casino Zone</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The first thing approaching a full-length these noisy bastards have yet concocted, I'm sure some would consider it worthwhile for the name alone - but songs like 'Fuck Numerals' and 'Complete Artistic Failure' are harrowing and beautiful as they lash out with angsty brutality. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><u>Top EPs</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's now 11pm, so each of these will get three words to sell it to you. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1. Victims and Vultures Alike - In Casino Out / FULL ON ROCK</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2. Mindhammers - Hawk Eyes / GRR YES MELODY</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3. Whoa Whoa, Hey Hey - The Calimocho Club / TRASH BLUES WIN</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">4. Vasco Da Gama - Vasco Da Gama / MATH POP INSANITY</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">5. Freak Show - Always the Quiet Ones / CLASSIC ROCK GRUNGE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">6. The Institute of Modern Love - Part I / OLD SCHOOL PROG</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">7. Big Fat World - SPC ECO / PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">8. Valour - Pure Reason Revolution / RIP PRR X</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">9. In Honour of Today - Pilot:X / FRESH POST PROGRESSIVE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">10. Are You Friendly - Kid For Today / ODD POP AWESOMESAUCE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">11. Crystal - Younghusband / FUNTIMES WITH SHOEGAZE</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Notes:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Trojan Horse - Trojan Horse counts as last year and so isn't here. If you want, you can count the remastered edition, but...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Octopus - Amplifier featured on my list last year as I received my copy before Christmas 2010.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Battleships did not release a named EP this year, so they have nothing admissible.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tweet me @hipsters_unite if ya wanna argue x</span>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-42475543003110240632011-11-08T20:42:00.000+00:002011-11-08T20:42:06.369+00:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Tf9hZEHT0n4mUPpOn4QtNS101QRlCHzriAXz4TwnzM3e_tcxZca1iyVHjQrvmGtYUkVcXBFrYpVEpgj0lUgGu6VK4qCb8syn-wJ4JAfse3b94l2H0HGv6iiz9yo2e5JrzlG1oubSKQ/s1600/IMG_1968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Tf9hZEHT0n4mUPpOn4QtNS101QRlCHzriAXz4TwnzM3e_tcxZca1iyVHjQrvmGtYUkVcXBFrYpVEpgj0lUgGu6VK4qCb8syn-wJ4JAfse3b94l2H0HGv6iiz9yo2e5JrzlG1oubSKQ/s320/IMG_1968.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Cyril Snear</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">with Trojan Horse, Douga and Black Market Serotonin</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Night & Day, Manchester, 6/11/2011</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rating: 4/5</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Right, so first up were Black Market Serotonin. I'm not going to dwell on their set long (mainly as they're on SSD), but from their live show it's evident that Andy in particular has grown greatly in confidence as a frontman over the last year. On the other hand, various things remain more raw about their nascent prog-industrial music; the tunes themselves may be polished, and an album may be on the way, but a refusal to dumb down the music live is both a strength and a weakness. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Slaved in the past to DAVE (or Digitally Automated Vibe Engine, a laptop), they now find themselves in the hands of a marginally less harsh Juno synth; nevertheless this band of exceptional musicians are still occasionally wrong-footed by the samples, and it does beg the question as to whether a fluid live show or fidelity to the record should be a band's number one priority. For my part, I don't know what the answer to that conundrum is.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRojH7n-JAEhVrhtGeaQ3rF_K9xRqDoX0fQddLMqoCSPMFYK014bpBPsRjIb1IhD7G3GIkIk5CLCeb3WsKpi9LblMDPbsC_E0tym2dDn6prPtAMcMvrH5d_yjuPv-W5EhcMM1Pdnq1tg/s1600/IMG_1951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRojH7n-JAEhVrhtGeaQ3rF_K9xRqDoX0fQddLMqoCSPMFYK014bpBPsRjIb1IhD7G3GIkIk5CLCeb3WsKpi9LblMDPbsC_E0tym2dDn6prPtAMcMvrH5d_yjuPv-W5EhcMM1Pdnq1tg/s320/IMG_1951.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Second were Douga; on the record there's a hint of the folktronica-come-alternative pop of the Beta Band, but live that's very much the dominant impression that's carried away by the pleasantly off-kilter indie rock on display (and I mean 'indie' in the sense of '90s US bands, not four-piece bands of dickheads from Shoreditch). With two strong sets of songs under their belt (a single and EP) already, as well as some decent shows, Douga's fortune looks set to improve even further from here on in. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibx6aVU8mET1dJqOdmy-UqwdnIwpRG6RaZnzVnq1qp9hSr6DZl-lPAhpGRpMeVyd_o144GiHywSplEDY3EnFeCm9kBN_GdvVRabktWMyFpDlmDmZ_xM8Stj5CBfp7mEZsZmv98hkPUhg/s1600/IMG_1964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibx6aVU8mET1dJqOdmy-UqwdnIwpRG6RaZnzVnq1qp9hSr6DZl-lPAhpGRpMeVyd_o144GiHywSplEDY3EnFeCm9kBN_GdvVRabktWMyFpDlmDmZ_xM8Stj5CBfp7mEZsZmv98hkPUhg/s320/IMG_1964.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Third were Trojan Horse. Look, I'm not even going to bother. Here, their album is free. GO LISTEN. The only thing really worthy of mention is that they trashed the stage rather more comprehensively than usual, and I had to dodge a flying Yamaha keyboard. Nice. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=726827375/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400">&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://trojanhorse.bandcamp.com/album/trojan-horse"&amp;amp;gt;Trojan Horse by Trojan Horse&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</iframe><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Finally Cyril Snear were ready to tear it up. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This marked the first time I'd seen the 'Snear live s</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ince hearing the pre-masters for their new record, <i>The Riot of Colour</i>, and live tracks like 'Confabulation' surely rank far above all of their work thus far, both in terms of quality and sheer hard rock whallop. At the moment there's only one band on the scene that look poised to claim the Manchester prog mantle ere vacated by Oceansize; while the 'Horse may be the truer sons of Prog, there's only one home grown post-prog band that can challenge the likes of the Kscope stable in the modern progressive stakes... </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">with their Amplifier support slot and Tool-esque hammerfalls, that band is surely Cyril Snear. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgge3dSW4BeA4fMaawR-vFFHeirRwRCPM7UpHS9OOEdGM-qRnjAEGSM8UjAWozQOPVrbzulXtAo8Gv65DZvgckSUAYBgZnYjbT64Ao1JS_oM6orXKMYyaaLAWDGvCuJIB2E07S6C07Tig/s1600/IMG_1975_bw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgge3dSW4BeA4fMaawR-vFFHeirRwRCPM7UpHS9OOEdGM-qRnjAEGSM8UjAWozQOPVrbzulXtAo8Gv65DZvgckSUAYBgZnYjbT64Ao1JS_oM6orXKMYyaaLAWDGvCuJIB2E07S6C07Tig/s320/IMG_1975_bw.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Given that 2011's not even spent yet it may seem premature to be making bold claims for next year, but let me be the first to suggest that <i>The Riot of Colour </i>will make at least this lowly scribe's 'Best of 2012' list. Fuck yes. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">__________________________________________</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And now for something completely different...</span><br />
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</span></div>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-61642495675882339712011-10-27T21:45:00.000+01:002011-10-27T21:45:53.609+01:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwP2sCCPQvaRkPzDN7mQJU7EoTEM4x80VteWhzITHaZ-KG83HoQa0UX3O7FYCPVVyR_1TPOoWE6Qgpy4FoxuLSF99lEWOQGW8G8WgljTi0Emv_YjTinoXQYNssNcXt6aVByHYovX2czQ/s1600/IMG_1852_sepia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwP2sCCPQvaRkPzDN7mQJU7EoTEM4x80VteWhzITHaZ-KG83HoQa0UX3O7FYCPVVyR_1TPOoWE6Qgpy4FoxuLSF99lEWOQGW8G8WgljTi0Emv_YjTinoXQYNssNcXt6aVByHYovX2czQ/s320/IMG_1852_sepia.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">County Champion </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">with </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Trojan Horse</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Islington Mill, Salford</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Thursday 20th October</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Rating: 4/5</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I'm sure by now everyone's tired of me periodically emerging from hibernation to pen words about Trojan Horse, but well, fuck off. Tonight on an incredible bill topped by Circles and Secret Chiefs 3 (who I was regrettably destined to miss) were County Champion and Trojan Horse. The latter - if you have ever read this blog before - you will know already, but the former may be somewhat more enigmatic. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Well, without further ado let me lift the veil. As perhaps the more acute and tuned-in of you will have noticed, the picture is of Charlie Barnes and Ste Anderson from Charlie Barnes & the Geekks... and that's because County Champion is the new name for that very band. At 2000 Trees this year they effectively announced their arrival with a new set of tunes contributed to by every bandmember, and Charlie finally assumed the frontman role he'd hitherto never quite grown into. Out was glitch-pop and in was drop-D (though fear not, he will continue to perform that under his own name). </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Even though their set was blighted by technical difficulties, you know it's a good sign when Mike Vennart and Gambler from Oceansize turn up to see your first show, and with a setlist that included 'Nasty Bastard', '18' and 'Balloons', County Champion certainly played to their strengths. Their sound is a concise blend of math and progressive, shot through with a slight post-hardcore edge. It sounds, if I were to boil it down to a single song by another band, kind of like the heavier passages of 'Only Twin', off <i>Frames</i>. There's that same epic abandon, the sense of the vocals riding a wave of previously contained, but now unleashed energy.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After the totally brilliant Champion boys had shuffled back into the crowd, it was time for the 'Horse to kick off their second show in as many days. They've always been an exceptionally hard-working band, and these days it seems there's not a week that goes by without a slew of Trojan Horse gigs. As they grow in stature, I'm gradually becoming one of a number of familiar faces at their gigs, and lest it smack of me laying out my wares smugly for all to see, I've got to say that it feels great to have seen a band grow from being a completely underground entity to being a major force on a local scene. That it should be a band as capriciously brilliant as TH is just icing on the cake, really. Here's to Prog Nouveau. Vive la revolution!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2633373354611151091.post-86962146348533457802011-10-11T15:11:00.002+01:002011-10-11T15:11:51.970+01:00Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning [Review]Hello there, I'm not going to post it up here, but Kscope kindly sent me a copy of <i>Grace </i>and I reviewed it for HV <a href="http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/article.php?type=3&id=1545">here</a>. If you use the little search box on this page, you'll also find an old review of <i>Insurgentes</i>, his last solo album.<br />
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In the meantime, here's 'Harmony Korine' from <i>Insurgentes</i>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/BClzBQmZZBc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>The Freyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14326242215967166387noreply@blogger.com0