Randomness: Daft Punk

The internet has been unusually quiet of late in terms of new music that sounds interesting.  I have lots of albums to review backed up in my iTunes, but I, like most of you no doubt, like some variety.  This is why I almost always listen to my iPod on random.  Sure, you get some funky combinations, but I'll take that variety.

So, in the name of variety, I'm starting up randomness posts.  I go through my iTunes library and scroll with my eyes closed, then click on something with my eyes still closed.  Whatever I click on, I blog about.  Boy, this sure is fun!  And I'm a sucker for randomness.  What can I say?  That I once told someone out of the blue that I've never had anyone under the age of 13 hit on me? 

Scratch that (chuckle). 

Today's Randomess: Daft Punk's Tron: Legacy soundtrack.  I loved the movie.  I admit that when the previews for Disney's new Tron movie first came out, I groaned.  See, some 80s movies were great, and others not so much.  The original Tron fits the latter category.  But it was better than anticipated and the 3D effects were great. 

Then, a few months ago, I stumbled onto the soundtrack.  I love film music, so I decided to check it out.  The fare I found was not at all in the vein of Daft Punk's studio albums, which are mostly house electronica.  On this soundtrack, they successfully blend sweeping orchestral soundscapes with trippy electronica sounds.  In this day and age, quite a few film composers do this, and to varying effects.  Daft Punk, for having little film compositional experience, certainly bring spacy fire and emotion to the soundtrack. 

Here are a few of my favorite tracks from Tron: Legacy:

Era Sinistra by Brad Mathews

Today we are doing things a little differently.  We have amazing friends who follow our blog and I just wanted to let you in on a little secret.  Brad's new book has just been released.  We wanted to show you a sneak peek of the cover and give you a glimpse as to what the book is about.  And since this is a music blog Brad chose a song that he thinks would be on the soundtrack if his book had one. This track is from Sybreed and the track is entitled In The Cold Light.   Please check this book out.  It is such a great accomplishment for Brad and I am so proud of him. The official synopsis follows the video-Kristy.
P.S. If you would like a copy of this book let us know.  I'm sure we can get you a better deal than the book store. Enjoy!

 

Reggie is sitting across from his boss with his hands resting on the desk. As if he knows of everything troubling Reggie, the boss looks worried. "You're a good man," he says. "Everything happens for a reason. Just don't let this become the reason."

Headaches and nightmares are only the beginning of his burdens. Reggie is going through a divorce and he misses his daughter. He is enduring disturbing visions he would describe as dementia. All of this worsens when Reggie is thrust to the center of a murder investigation as a key witness. Numerous issues plague the investigation from the start. They have discovered no bodies, only fragments of a puzzle they can only guess pertains to the murder. Reggie has embarked on a traumatizing voyage into forested highland where nothing is what it seems. Reggie will never be the same, but perhaps all he has to do is survive.

Across the Universe Covers

I was riding in the car with my sister a few weeks ago and we were listening to her i-pod.  We were listening to the music in alphabetical order.  This seemed weird to me but she said it mixed things up a little bit.  So as we were riding around I heard the song Across the Universe by Fionna Apple come on.  After that song ended a second version of it came on by Jim Sturgess.  This gave me an idea.  So for the next few blogs I am going to let you compare and contrast some of the different covers I have found to some of my faviorite songs.  I hope you enjoy them. 

So first up is Across the Universe origionally written and performed by John Lennon.  His version of this song is a classic.  He used his voice as the main focus of the song and doesn't bring in a lot of loud insturments that are going to drown him out.  It just sounds like classic John Lennon if that makes any sense.  The second version of this song is from Fionna Apple.  Her cover of this song has a blusey feeling to it.  I really like her spin on it.  It is very clean and clear.  The last version is Jim Sturges from the movie Across the Universe.  In this movie they actually cover a lot of beatles songs because that is the point of the movie.  I really like his cover too.  He brings in more instruments to back up his voice.  I love that they chose the chello because it adds depth to this song.  All three versions of this song are amazing!! Check them out and let us know what you think.-Kristy

Gojira-L'Enfant Sauvage

If you are a fan of metal music, chances are you have at least heard of Gojira.  These Frenchmen have a new album out.  I finally got a chance to listen to its entirety this evening, and I have to say I dig it. 

Gojira (formerly known as Godzilla, which Gojira actaully means) start things off on L'Enfant Sauvage (traslatable as the Savage Child) where they left off on The Way of all Flesh, but they expand on that sound with viscous guitar leads.  This is in addition to their trademark chugging riffs puncuated with unpredictable drum work, which results in a rhythmic attack on the auditory sense that is oddly addictive.  If you know of Gojira's music, you know what I'm talking about. 

Here, they deliver 11 delicious tracks that bend minds and take no prisoners.  I know I'm going a little overboard with the metaphors with this review, but that's because it is easy to go overboard with Gojira. 

Gojira is rightfully a big name in metal and stand as possibly the most notable French band there is. Over the years they have a crafted a sound all thier own.  Many bands have tried to duplicate Gojira's sound and many have failed.  Other comparable bands would perhaps be Textures and Meshuggah, but these bands differ in many ways.  Not metal collection is complete without at least one Gojira album, and L'Enfant Saugave certainly fills the niche. 

This album grabs hold of listeners and destroys entire cities with its 4.4/5 rating.  Ok.  No more silly metaphors from me today.  Listen to the title track from L'Enfant Sauvage below.

Turning Page by Sleeping At Last

So I guess you have noticed that most of my posts happen because I suffer from a rare form of insomnia. I can't fall asleep before midnight no matter how hard I try.  Anyway last night as I was trying to fall asleep Turning Page by Sleeping At Last came on.  Most of you might recognize it from the Breaking Dawn Soundtrack.  This song is beautiful.  The music is so soft.  It starts with piano and then slowly the violins come in and it is just breathtaking.  The lyrics to this song are amazing and romantic.  Once the vocals are paired to the melody the song is pure magic.  I hope you enjoy it as much I did.  -Kristy

Album Review: The Agonist-Prisoners

 

Female-fronted extreme metal bands, though a sparse group, encounter several difficulties in sound.  Many such bands struggle to create enough variation in vocal styles to keep their records interesting.  Naturally, women often cannot produce the required screams and growls that define the genre. 

Montreal's The Agonist is an extreme metal group, that while suffers some of the same issues as thier contemporaries, manage an eclectic metal sound that can keep listeners interested.  Vocalist Alyssa White-Gluz provides everything from deep-throated growls to piercing screams laced with her rangy clean vocals.  Many of these vocals are obviously layered, but are impressive nonetheless. 

Influences including Pantera and In Flames are evident in the music, including groovy metallic riffs and thrashy drum patterns.  The band incorporates some wicked guitar leads and progressive-styled acoustic strumming to create an unusual effect in the arena of extreme metal.  White-Gluz has mentioned Radiohead as an influence for this record, but this influence is not pronounced enough to sound noticeable. 

Several good metal bands originate from Montreal, but few bands anywhere in the world come close to duplicating the niche that The Agonist fills.  Prisoners is the bands third record and shows decent growth from Lullabies for the Dormant Mind, thier previous release.  If you are into extreme metal, you might like The Agonist.  It is an entertaining listen.  I will chain Prisoners with 3.9/5 stars.