David Bowie-The Next Day review

I admit I am jumping on this one a little late, but I just heard about it.  After a 10-year wait, David Bowie has finally released a brand new album.

I enjoyed "Heathen" a ton, and even though this style of music isn't at the top of my list, I listen to it fairly often.  What impressed me with "Heathen" was how dynamic Bowie sounded.  Having to wait ten years between albums from your favorite artists can feel like torture, but the excitement when the new album does come is genuine.

Whereas "Heathen" offered a more alternative mainstream style of pop sound, "The Next Day" should turn out to be an instant classic in the genre of rock.  As is usual with Bowie, the music is filled with unusual twists and sounds that are both surprising and pleasing.  The new album is a real rocker, leaving nothing to be desired.  What makes Bowie so famous, of course, is his style of singing. 

Needless to say, I took time out to listen to the new Bowie album and it definitely lived up to its billing.  If you are a big Bowie fan, you probably already own this.  If not, you are perhaps wondering what all the fuss is about.  I mean, can't dinosaur rock finally go the way of the dinosaur? 

In a genre filled to the brim with classless rip-offs, and rock musicians simply interested in selling, Bowie is a breath of fresh air.  He has truly stood out as one of the best.  One thing that comes to mind while listening to this album is that it does not include any remixes or covers.  Each of the albums' 13 tracks are original David Bowie material.

"The Next Day" has a big, full sound with impressive range.  The instrumentation is nearly perfect this go-around and contains a steady diet of differing styles, from eerie, grandiose reverb to subtle plucked harmonies to full-on dark ambiance all while keeping its cool rocking.

This is a good album and will be a great addition to nearly any music collection.  Enjoy the full album stream, via YouTube below.  Enjoy!

Neaera-Ours is the Storm review

Two straight metal album reviews.  I know, we don't like metal that much here, but it so happened that three bands we do like released new albums on the same day.  And there is a bunch more metal in the pipeline, though most of it won't be released for a while. 

Today's review is the third most anticipated music release from March 5, 2013: The new album from Germany's Neaera.  Like Soilwork yesterday, Neaera is a band with their own established identity, however much less known than Soilwork.  This band actually plays a somewhat similar style of metal to Soilwork, but nastier and more extreme. 

Neaera's forte is a bruising gallop of chugging riffs, pummelling drums, and guitar leads swirling beneath the surface.  Neaera are certainly masters of crafting songs that make listeners want to throw up their horns and bang their heads.  The riffs and drums are punchy and create an impressive and crunchy groove that makes heads spin.  Bubbling beneath the considerably heavy surface in most songs are snaky guitar leads that lend atmosphere and melody to the meat.  Most bands resort to keyboards to achieve this end, but Neaera is different from the rest.

What sets this band apart is the vocal style.  One second the singer emits throat-shredding shrieks, while the next he bursts forth with impressive belows that fall somewhere below the bass register.  He switches back and forth from these styles effortlessly while also mixing in higher-range old school metal screams.  Very rarely does this band give in to using clean singing, and even when they do, its is more like an Iron Maiden-esque array of falsetto singing.  On "Ours is the Storm" this style of singing appears on just one track. 

From start to finish this is a very heavy record.  There are no interludes or preludes or intros or outros or lead-in tracks or filler material.  Just thirteen pummelling melodeath tracks that are easy to nod your head to.  On this disc, Neaera offer nothing flashy--nothing that calls attention to itself.  Like Soilwork's new album, the band sees little need to bring anything new to the table besides a bunch of killer tracks.  That said, "Ours is the Storm" is a good album, just not a great one.  If you are in the mood for some insane headbanging metal, you can't go wrong here.  Check out a couple of the tracks below.  Enjoy!

Soilwork-The Living Infinte review

If you have been following us regularly, you might have noticed the couple of times in the last few months we have posted brand new songs from this Swedish metal band.

Soilwork has put together an impressive career spanning now nine full-length albums since 1995.  Over the years, the band's style has morphed and changed but this is still one of the most consistent Swedish metal bands of the era (meaning late 1980s-1990s Swedish melodeath).  Though the band has adapted styles a little bit by incorporating further and more varied use of clean-sung vocals, Soilwork is still very much an extreme metal band.

"The Living Infinite," released today, most certainly carries the mark of a Soilwork album.  The band's previous albums, "Sworn to a Great Divide" and "The Panic Broadcast" were seen as slight letdowns for hardcore Soilwork fans.  Instead of offering a 'return to form' Soilwork include bits of style spanning their entire discography.  Bjorn "Speed" Strid's vocals are much improved this time around, showing better range with both clean singing and extreme vocals. 

As on "The Panic Broadcast," the metallic riffs are fast, thick, and smooth. Soilwork's drumming has never been tighter, and many of the tracks here scorch us with blistering leads and solos, which have been largely missing over the last few albums.

With "The Living Infinite," Soilwork doesn't break any new ground, but they don't have to.  By now their sound is well-established and their practice well-polished.  With that being said, there are no mind-blowing moments.  The album is content with what it does and does it well. 

Not much more can be said of this album.  It is as good an album as Soilwork has ever released.  It doesn't break any new ground.  Instead, the consistency on display is notable.  If you are in the mood for some torrential extreme metal with memorable melodies (ah, alliteration attack), you need to check this album out.  One thing to note is that this is a double album.  The CD version contains two discs and 20 tracks.  Feast on a few of the released tracks below.  As always, thanks for reading and ejoy!

A Veil of Water-Reminder review

This past week I received an interesting email from Hidden Vibes, a small record label of out Kiev, Ukraine.  This email was touting their latest release, a piano-based instrumental record from A Veil of Water. 

"Reminder" is A Veil of Water's first release.  Hailing from Norway, this is a one-man musical project by Rune Tralvik.  Originally revolving around a solo piano and then evolving to more, this artist is an impressive self-taught musician and player of multiple instruments. 

From the very first track it is evident that "Reminder" will be mostly a modern classical piano masterwork, and thus it truly is.  Without sacrificing tone, clarity, and melody, this artist weaves post-rock and ambient flavors to create a deep and moving listening experience.

In the past I have raved about artists such as Heinali and Endless Melancholy.  A Veil of water manages to match them both.  I have high respect for people who can play musical instruments, and more so when they can play multiple instruments.  I have also noted more than once that there is no such thing as bad classical music, and that is a mantra I naturally extend to film music, trailer music, and neoclassical studio projects.

In listening to "Reminder," we are presented with numerous melodic textures, each carrying their own weight and contributing greatly to the whole.  This is a classic album to which listeners just have to sit back and relax.  This music is beautiful and provocative.  For using the piano as the centerpiece,
Tralvik creates deep and energetic pieces as well as slow, melancholic burners, each of which carve a comfortable niche in the lucky listener and remain memorable for days on end. 

If you enjoy tasteful piano and instrumental music, you will absolutely love A Veil of Water.  "Reminder" is available for purchase at the artist's bandcamp page, from whom we owe thanks for the full album stream.  Thanks for reading and, as always, enjoy!

: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!