:Papercutz-The Blur Between Us (2012)

A while back we talked about a series of free download compilation albums from Future Sequence.  These discs are loaded with great finds.  Among the golden, I discovered a Portuguese artist called :Papercutz.  I didn't discover this album until late, or it might have made our year-end list.

"The Blur Between Us" has a diverse array of sounds on display throughout the record.  Perhaps the defining characteristics are the brooding ambient undercurrents interspersed with electronic beats and flourishes of modern classical harmonics and percussion.  These elements show an impressive depth that you simply can't get from any similar artist (if there is such a thing).

With a Cranberries-meets-Enya vocal style, the singing is what really sets this album apart as a can't-miss.  The vocals are varied, but repetitive enough to maintain a distinct pop vibe.   Not quite to the realm of electrogaze, the vocal stylings dwell mostly between dream pop and new world music. This is perhaps the area in which :Papercutz shines the most.

By that last line, I of course meant the figurative sense, because most of the music in this album is indeed cinematic and dark.  The undertones of drone ambiance mixed with modern classical instrumentation lends the music an eerie feel.  If this is not your thing, please be advised that this quality is not overt, nor is it an attempt to make the music a statement of what it is not.  This is simply creative, emotional genius.  "The Blur Between Us" is much more accessible than I have so far made it out to be.  Do not underestimate the dream pop effects present in this album. 

I normally don't enjoy much pop music; I'm not a musical purist.  Therefore I enjoy a broad spectrum of styles that defy classification.  Thus, :Papercutz has turned out to be right up my alley. 

Get this album.  It is perhaps the best album you didn't hear in 2012.  Another thing to note is that if you order through the artist's bandcamp page, you get a bonus track which is a rather incredible cover of The Cure's Disintegration. Speaking of the :Papercutz bandcamp page, below you will find the full album stream.  Just push play and let the music become you...or something like that.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Apricot Rail-Quarrels review

Some time ago we posted a quick review of a new single by a post-rock band from Perth, Australia called Apricot Rail.  The Australian release date has hit and we have a full album to review!  For one reason or another, this hasn't hit US shores yet, but thankfully, Apricot Rail has a fully armed and operational bandcamp page to peruse.  (Props to those who just picked up on my blatant Star Wars reference...what a NERD!)

I would almost hesitate to call this new release post-rock.  Post-rock music in its purest form is highly processed and heavily distorted instrumental rock music that more often than not hints at a coming apocalypse.  Apricot Rail has crafted an interesting release in instrumental music that eschews the heavy distortion for more organic instrumental melodies with just enough feedback to provide a sweeping atmospheric texture.

Vocals, while sparse, only serve to accentuate certain melodies without playing an integral part in the sound as a whole.  This is immediately evident from the opening bars of the very first track.  Another thing that stands out with this release is that this band is not afraid to experiment with lullaby-style electronic harmonies or unconventional instrumentation.  More than one track includes strings and several feature full-on horn sections.  This creates yet another interesting dynamic in the music.  During Cicadas...Part II, a horn section almost had me convinced that I was listening to an odd rendering of The Beatles' Strawberry Fields.  This was a rather astute observation considering that I'm not a Beatles fan.

This album almost literally renders me speechless.  It is that good.  There is something in this music for everyone.  I can't find a single beef with the flow of this album.  "Quarrels" is certainly an early candidate to make our year-end list.  This is extremely impressive music from a relatively unknown band.  The music beautiful and uplifting in ways that most post-rock fails or does not care to attempt.  If you like instrumental music of any kind, you MUST check this out.  You can stream the entire album below.  As always, thanks for reading and enjoy!

Free Downloads in triplicate!

You know how they say bad luck comes in threes?  Well today I am happy to announce that good luck also comes in threes.  You have to have yin to your yang don't you? 

The other day I stumbled across two artists whose music grabbed me and wouldn't let me go until the song was over.  As it turns out both of these items were available as name-your-price downloads from the bands' respective bandcamp pages, so I promptly downloaded them.  Upon doing so, I found that one of the bands had recommended another artist that sounded interesting.  I happened to enjoy that one as well.

Three new artists in a day?  Pretty good luck.  Let's start with the first.

Kigo-For some reason i didn't get into this group much when I first heard of them a couple weeks ago.  A blog I frequently read had posted about their new EP and I liked the cover art, but i didn't find the music impressive enough to download.  Or course that changed when I listened to a second track from the EP posted about later in the same blog.  I was floored.  Kigo is one Australian dude who plays dynamic electro-gaze tunes.  We all know about Spc-Eco and M83, but Kigo is entirely different.  He combines fuzzy, distorted guitar instrumentation with pedal effects and massive underpinning of dazzling electronic reverb.  If you like shoegaze or alternative rock, you will love Kigo.  Check out their EP here.

Germany Germany-Who wouldn't half-expect this artist to be from Germany? That's what I thought.  I like German artists on average much more than I like Canadian artists.  Germany Germany is actually from Canada.  The style of music here is down tempo, spatial ambient music with tinges of dream pop to give it a more urgent feel.  Those two styles wouldn't seem to mesh well, but Germany Germany pulls it off with such aplomb that it is difficult to not be impressed.  This was much better than average.  Take a listen to their newest album below.

Arrange-I have known about this Portland-based musician for quite some time, but I never really gave much thought to listening to his music.  His latest album came to me on a recommendation from Germany Germany.  It seemed unlikely that I would enjoy it, but I listened anyway.  His new album, "Plantation" blew me away.  Complete with emotional, understated vocals and a sterile world of eerie ambiance, this record was a fantastic listen.  The genre classification here would be best suited as ambient pop, but the pop stylings are very subtle.  Instead of being bouncy, this album takes on a surreal feeling of melancholy and anger.  Such depressing tunes can be maddening to listen to for a long time, but the tracks are short and varied enough to retain interest throughout.  Check out "Plantation" below.  As always, thanks for reading and enjoy!

Omnium Gatherum-Beyond review

Let me apologize for the lull in activity here at ThinkMuzik.  The last weeks have been very dull in terms of new music.  We haven't been receiving any updates we feel to be noteworthy.  Rest assured, however, there is some good stuff coming so stay tuned.

One great update we did receive today: Omnium Gatherum is now streaming their upcoming album "Beyond" in full.  You can listen to the music here.

"Beyond" feels much less like a follow-up to "New World Shadows" than anticipated.  By all means, "New World Shadows" was a fantastic album, further exploring ideas and sounds hinted at in "The Red Shift".  The result was a more polished, fuller sounding record that was, in my opinion, the best album to date in the Omnium Gatherum discography.  Now that I have had a chance to listen to "Beyond", I can say that the new release is just as good as, if not better than its predecessor.

This album starts out with an atmospheric guitar intro that steadily builds in intensity towards the end.  This leads perfectly into the explosion of metallic riffing and growling vocals that are featured prominently in the second track.  These songs manage to keep the Omnium Gatherum vibe I have come to love over the years even while ratcheting up the atmospheric keyboard and synth qualities yet another notch.  This illustrates why the band has so quickly become one of my favorite metal bands. 

"Beyond" reaches near perfect marks from me, but for a perceived misstep or two near the end of the album.  Two of the final five tracks seemed like a regression of sorts, hearkening back to the "Red Shift" era which, to be honest, included some great tunes.  This late-album change of pace seems to subtly undermine the charging tempo of doom-laden keyboard melodies and memorable guitar leads present throughout most of the album.  This is only a very slight gripe.  Whatever tenacity was lost with those few stripped-down efforts, Omnium Gatherum make up for in the over ten-minute epic closer that is Omnium Gatherum at their very best.

The vocals on this album are diverse enough to be entertaining.  Some low-register spoken word sections enhance the foreboding atmosphere present within the music.  Could Say is the only track to incorporate clean vocals like those found sparingly during "New World Shadows".  The cleans make up the majority of the verses, while beastly growls return to prominence during chorus and bridge sections.  This is one of the best songs on the album.

As on "New World Shadows", Don Swano is behind the production here.  Swano is in my opinion the best metal producer in Europe.  In this album, it quickly becomes evident that his skill has only increased.

A lot of Finnish bands create great melodic metal music and Omnium Gatherum has risen to the very top of an already rich crop, which includes masters Amorphis and Insomnium.  "Beyond" is an epic album, and perhaps the best yet in Omnium Gatherum's six LPs and one EP.  Check out the damage here and be sure to listen to Could Say.  As always, thanks for reading and enjoy!

Olekksii-Iris review

When I first stumbled across Olekksii on the Fluttery Records website, I thought the name sounded familiar.  Indeed, this is the last name of a Ukrainian artist known as Endless Melancholy, only his last name is spelled with a single 'k'. 

The artist Olekksii is Alexey Krolevets.  Like Endless Melancholy, he is from Kiev, Ukraine.  Olekksii specializes in electronica, but his music can appeal to fans more diverse than the typical electronic music lover.  His new full-length album, "Iris" is an abbreviated eight-track album rich in classic electronic beats, smooth, atmospheric reverb, and piano.

This music is multi-layered.  While ambiance plays a crucial role in developing the dreary aspects of these tunes, it is sole focal point.  Olekksii builds upon that template with recognizable electronic beats, which provide tempo and depth the music.  Another key element of the mix is the piano.  Simple, catchy piano melodies play a thoughtful juxtaposition with the electronic beats, while various string arrangements cast rays of beauty into the mix.

"Iris" would be a strong modern classical performance without the electronics.  With those beats mixed in, it reflects on some latter film pieces.  These arrangements of multiple cellos and violins instead call to mind true classical music.  These arrangements are deep enough to sound cutting-edge and modern, but paced more like contemporary. 

The length of tracks does often matter to me.  As I said in yesterday's post about Funeral for a Friend's new disc, short tracks can lead to less variety in musical sound.  This is not the case with "Iris."  Though the average track length is nearly identical to the new FFAF album, the music is strikingly diverse.  This perhaps owes to the absence of vocals and the insistence of contemporary musicians need to create music devoid of catchy hooks or other sounds of repetitive nature.  Indeed, these eight tracks seem to stretch much further. 

This album is still short and I do feel that Olekksii would have been served well by including just one or two additional songs, but this is but a minor complaint. 

Fluttery records claims that this music is for people impressed with works by Olafur Arnalds, Max Richter, and several other lesser-known artists.  Having read this bio before I listened to a single note of the music, they had me at Olafur Arnalds.  Olekksii is indeed similar to Arnalds, and believe me that is a major plus.

I fully recommend purchasing "Iris".  This is a fantastic listen and an inexpensive download.  Check out the full stream, courtesy of the Olekksii bandcamp page below.  Thanks for listening and enjoy!

Funeral for a Friend-Conduit review

Recently I have been working with an electrician who is designing electrical conduit for a food processing facility.  There is a ton of conduit in this building, so finding out where each line is routing is time-consuming and complex.

Funeral for a Friend's latest album, on the other hand, is neither complex nor is it a time-consuming listening experience.  In some ways the band picks up where they left off with on the not-so-overwhelmingly received "Welcome Home Armageddon".  My own opinion of the previous album notwithstanding, "Conduit" is a good FFAF album, just not the best.

We are huge fans of FFAF here.  We own either CD or digital copies of every single full-length album they have released.  "Conduit" is every bit as good as "Welcome Home Armageddon," but not quite up to the standard set with "Hours" and "Memory and Humanity."  We believe this band to be bar-none the best Welsh rock band out there.  Granted, there are not that many heavy-hitters from the Kingdom of Wales, but FFAF is the best.

Whereas the previous albums were harmonic rockers, "Conduit" shows us a different aspect the band has been trying to incorporate more and more through the last two albums.  Listeners of metal, straight-up hardcore, and punk will identify with the subject matter and delivery of this album.  FFAF is still very much a rock band and indeed graces listeners with numerous harmonic hooks, but what "Conduit" truly is, is a post-hardcore release.  This is perhaps most similar to the earlier tracks from "Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation." 

My only problem with this release is indeed a fairly major one, and complex at that.  The structures evident in the 11 tracks are the simplest melodies and riffs FFAF have ever constructed.  These 11 tracks more often than not render themselves so simple that the simplicity detracts from the creativity in the song-writing.  The tracks on this album average under three minutes apiece, with the longest just 3:39.  The shortness of the tracks leaves no room for extended vocal melodies, guitar leads, or solos.  These items have been FFAF staples for years, so having none of these to chew on leaves plenty to be desired.

"Conduit" is still a solid release that should appeal to both true fans and casual listeners.  The album is simply too short in my opinion.  Check out the title track and Spine below.  As always, thanks for reading and enjoy!

Elara-Soundtrack for a Quiet Place

Fluttery Records has just released a brand new EP from an Italian band called Elara.  The description of the band is what intrigued me the most, so I listened to the new EP.

"Soundtrack for a Quiet Place" is three brilliant cinematic post rock tracks.  I found this release to be extremely impressive.  For music with the usual post rock centerpieces of screeching guitars over ambiance, this album counters with a grand orchestral backdrop that brings to mind film scores.  When you try to envision what this sounds like, imagine a cross between Mono and If These Trees Could Talk. 

These three tracks generate an emphatic atmosphere that underscores guitar distortion with smooth, repetitive riffs.  The string arrangements permeate this atmosphere with a tangible quality almost reminiscent of later Romantic-era works, but emphasize epic cinematic qualities.

This is the best I can describe the music in this EP.  What I can tell you is that I was completely floored when I listened to it.  This was very impressive work that made me wish it was a full-length album rather than an EP.  Still, Fluttery Records is not asking for a ton of money on this one so it is worth it to check out.  "Soundtrack for a Quiet Place" is available through Fluttery Records' bandcamp page, as well as their website.  It is also available through Amazon if, like me, you prefer that route.  Check out the full stream of this glorious EP with the graceful wolves on the cover below.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!