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....!
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!
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. (http://tallforjockeys.bandcamp.com/)
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).
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
(http://www.songkick.com/festivals/288973-a-carefully-planned/id/13479314-a-carefully-planned-festival-2012)
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.
