Muse. Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Clash. What do these three bands have in common?

They all released great albums in their time, but none of them knew when it was time to stop expanding and experimenting.

The failure to cut the multitude of dross from the final cut of RHCP’s Stadium Arcadium epitomises this fact, as do the unreal overproduction of the Clash’s Cut the Crap and the OTT aberration that Muse have tried to pass off as a new direction on Uprising.

It is frustrating to see once-great bands fall by the wayside in such a manner, and has convinced me to put my case forward for At the Drive-In’s swansong Relationship of Command as the album of the noughties.

Push becomes shove, days become months

When ATD-I split up in 2001, they were at the height of their popularity, with a sell-out world tour emphatic of their rise to the top.

Not only that, but they had just released an album – in the form of Relationship of Command – which ticked all the boxes.

Lyrically ingenious, wonderfully paced and the perfect length, the album had it all. Not only that, but it silenced those doubtful of the band’s ability of topping their stunning 1998 release In/Casino/Out.

It is impossible to single out one track from the album, but this is the moment which made me realise ATD-I were far more than just another great post-hardcore band.

Must have read a thousand faces

Now, for all their popularity across the pond, I am aware that ATD-I are not as well-known in the UK.

Some of you may, god forbid, never have even heard Relationship of Command in all its glory.

Consequently, I feel it my duty to give you a brief run-through of the album itself, through all its peaks and its troughs (ok, there are no troughs), and provide you with links to each individual track.

That way you can either see for yourself what you have been missing, or simply relive the glories of this majestic record which has been topped by nothing in the nine years since its release.

Bitten on the entrance

The band dives in at the deep end, the blistering drumming of Tony Hajjar on opening track Arc Arsenal letting the listener know he or she is in for one hell of a ride.

In fact, it is nearly a full minute until you are introduced to the primal roar of Cedric Bixler-Zavala, barking his lyrics out loud so clear.

It is not long before all the pieces of the jigsaw come together, with the guitars of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Jim Ward, as well as the wonderfully understated bass-playing of Paul Hinojos, coming to the fore on the multi-layered Pattern Against User and the deliciously uncommercial lead single One-Armed Scissor.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (left) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala

If there’s one main strength to be picked out of ATD-I’s music, it’s their ability to continually engulf and amaze the listener.

After a long, relaxed playout at the end of One-Armed Scissor, Bixler-Zavala launches mercilessly – and without warning – into the uncompromising vocals and surreal lyrics of Sleepwalk Capsules, before taking some time to chill out on the beautifully mellow Invalid Litter Dept.

Pacifier Pacifies

If the genre of post-hardcore has had to face one criticism, it is that the music is often unrelenting and brash, not allowing the listener to recover.

One of the strengths of Relationship of Command is its ability to let the listener breathe without bombarding them with an aural assault throughout the album.

This is demonstrated by the fact that two of the heavier tracks, Mannequin Republic and Rolodex Propaganda, are broken up by the chilling and complex Enfilade.

It is clear that this is an album which makes you, nay, forces you to think.

With a track as accomplished as Quarantined so far down the track listing, ATD-I could almost be forgiven for setting up the preceding tracks as a countdown to the album-defining moment.

But anyone who has heard the ambition of Cedric and Omar’s new band The Mars Volta, or even Sparta, the less-successful side-project of the band’s other members, will realise these guys don’t do things by halves.

Rather than sit back and wait for the majesty of this pivotal track to astound everyone within the vicinity of the listener, they almost set themselves the target of improving on perfection. And of course they pass with flying colours.

Not only that, but they follow it up with a triumvirate which showcases their versatility and unreplicable talent.

First comes the affecting Cosmonaut, whose closing lyric ‘Is it heavier than air…am I supposed to die alone’ presents the track as a heavier, yet no less poignant, repositioning of Pink Floyd’s forgotten classic The Gunner’s Dream.

Then, as if the album was not already heart-wrenching enough, Non-Zero Possibility comes along.

A tale of desertion and depression whose true meaning only the band will know, the penultimate track paints a moving picture which will stay with you for weeks.

And, appropriately, the closer Catacombs is a fitting way to end not only a classic album but also an accomplished career, bringing together all the strengths of this incomparable band.

Dancing on the corpses’ ashes

So, what of the band’s legacy?

As I have already alluded to, three of the band broke off to form the unheralded Sparta, who in my opinion never received the plaudits they were due.

The reason for their lack of attention? A little band who go by the name The Mars Volta.

TMV’s debut De-Loused in the Comatorium, a concept album based on the life and death of artist Julio Venegas, features on many people’s lists about the best album of the decade, yet for all its brilliance it is not a patch on ATD-I’s final bow.

To relegate such an inventive follow-up to the status of also-ran shows how marvellous an album Relationship of Command really is.

In the nine years since its release, many pretenders have attempted to usurp its position as album of the decade, but in my opinion it has brushed this plethora of challengers to one side and retained its crown with ease.

The other entries so far:

Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not – by Ciaran Jones

Sufjan Stevens – Come on Feel the Illinoise – by Alex Smith

Bloc Party – Silent Alarm – by Joe Curtis

The Libertines – Up the Bracket – by James Franklin

Brand New – The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me – by Hugh Morris

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago – by Ammelio

Daft Punk – Discovery – by Will Gilgrass

The Killers – Hot Fuss - by Nick Moore

Kings of Leon – Only By the Night - by Caroline Cook

Bright Eyes – Digital Ash in a Digital Urn - by Emma Davies

Their latest record, Octahedron, was underwhelming and now Thomas Pridgen has apparently left the band. Feels like the musical equivalent of Sammy Sosa joining the Orioles…

Come descrivere i The Mars Volta a chi non li ha mai sentiti? Impresa difficile dal momento che anch’io, prima di acquistare questo cd, ero completamente ignorante in materia. Li avevo visti giusto un paio di volte in tv: la prima su Rock TV grazie al videoclip di The Widow (dal disco “Frances The Mute” del 2005) e la seconda al David Letterman Show, dove hanno eseguito Wax Simulacra, brano grazie al quale lo scorso febbraio hanno vinto un Grammy per la “Best Hard Rock Performance”. Poi, una mattina d’estate, mi sono alzato dal letto, ho acceso la tv e mi sono imbattuto nel videoclip di Cotopaxi: un video curioso e piuttosto straniante per un brano estremamente energico e indiavolato. Mi sono detto: «Non ci sono santi che tengono, devo avere quel disco». Il giorno dopo, quel disco era mio. (Sì, lo so, potevo recensirlo anche prima, ormai siamo a fine novembre; ma converrete con me che l’album si addice molto di più a questa stagione.)

“Octahedron” è uscito lo scorso 22 giugno per Warner Bros, con una sgargiante e tropicale cover art del pittore surrealista Jeff Jordan, che collabora con la formazione già da qualche anno. Si tratta del quinto lavoro in studio per questa progressive rock band attiva dal 2001 e molto apprezzata dalla critica per la sua originalità (lo scorso anno Rolling Stone l’ha investita del titolo di “Best Prog-Rock Band”). I frequenti cambi di line-up non hanno mai intaccato la vorticosa creatività della formazione di El Paso, che ruota saldamente attorno al vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, artefice di testi molto curati e talvolta ermetici, e all’indomito chitarrista Omar Rodríguez-López, autore di tutte le musiche nonché produttore dell’album. Il suo insolito metodo di condurre le registrazioni, mutuato a quanto pare da Miles Davis, è quello di far incidere a ogni strumentista la propria parte a metronomo, senza conoscere né poter ascoltare quelle degli altri. «Ora, però, dovrò escogitare qualcosa di nuovo», ha spiegato Omar in una intervista a The Village Voice, «perché i musicisti si stanno abituando alla cosa, e sono diventati tutti troppo bravi».

Tra i musicisti coinvolti nel disco compare anche il nome di John Frusciante dei Red Hot Chili Peppers, che in realtà – come scopro non senza stupore – collabora con la band in modo continuativo già dai tempi del debut album “De-Loused in the Comatorium”. (Specularmente, Rodríguez-López è ormai un ospite fisso dei dischi solisti di Frusciante, e mi risulta che abbia fatto anche una comparsa su “Stadium Arcadium” dei RHCP. Ma non giudicatelo per questo, vi assicuro che non se lo merita.)

Torniamo ora al disco, che è caratterizzato da una profonda ricerca sonora e risulta essere molto più calmo e trattenuto delle precedenti release. Gli interessati hanno definito il loro quinto lavoro in studio come un album «acustico», «morbido», addirittura «pop»; indicazioni che però non vanno prese alla lettera, poiché cercano soltanto di suggerire un songwriting più emotivo, tranquillo, rilassato. Del resto, i brani sono stati scritti simultaneamente alla produzione dell’ultimo “The Bedlam in Goliath” e quindi tendo a pensare che sia più una parentesi voluta che non una caduta di stile, come ha insinuato qualche critico. Comunque sia il risultato è pienamente convincente e, dopo ripetuti ascolti, il disco sembra non stancarmi mai. Gli otto brani che compongono il lavoro sono intensi, vibranti avvolgenti: non a caso il disco si chiama “Octahedron”, titolo tridimensionale che rende piena giustizia alla profondità del songwriting di questa originalissima band.

L’incipit è graduale e soffuso. C’è un tappeto di synth che emerge con infinita lentezza dal silenzio iniziale (lo stesso che, in modo mai troppo intrusivo, lega ciascuna canzone del disco alla successiva) e solo dopo un centinaio di secondi ha inizio la delicata e sognante Since We’ve Been Wrong, che a tratti riempie il cuore di lucida malinconia. Poi è la volta della più movimentata Teflon, dove il cantato si fa più acuto, gli effetti slide della chitarra sono molto curati e la sezione ritmica reinterpreta un normalissimo 4/4 scandendo accenti di non immediata lettura. Seguono Halo of Nembutals, un brano sofferto dal ritornello indimenticabile, e With Twilight As My Guide, affascinante ballata acustica tra il fiabesco e lo spirituale, che ci ho messo un po’ di tempo ad apprezzare ma che ora mi sembra semplicemente fantastica. Notevole il falsetto di Bixler-Zavala, che qualcuno potrebbe realmente scambiare per una voce femminile.

A rompere l’atmosfera sognante lanciandoci nel bel mezzo di un cataclisma sonoro è la già citata Cotopaxi, indubbiamente uno degli highlights di questo lavoro e in definitiva una delle canzoni più belle che abbia sentito quest’anno. Definirla vulcanica sarebbe poco originale – considerando che il brano prende il nome proprio da un vulcano dell’Ecuador – ma sicuramente calzante. Tempi dispari, energia a fiumi, un cantato pazzoide e una struttura fluida e magmatica – ehm, scusatemi – che si dipana per tre minuti e mezzo di notevole densità. Mi piacerebbe tanto spiegarvi di cosa parla, ma ho gettato la spugna al verso che dice «When Sanskrit was my mother tongue scarabs filled my pillow»… che è poi la frase iniziale! Il fatto che in Europa questo brano sia stato scelto come singolo di lancio è in realtà fuorviante perché, pur essendo rappresentativo dello stile della band, lo è molto di meno del tono generale di questo disco. Ma se l’obiettivo era quello di convincere gli insicuri, come nel caso del sottoscritto, be’… missione compiuta!

Si passa poi a Desperate Graves, dal prezioso arpeggio introduttivo, che ha però la sfortuna di passare inosservata, incastonata com’è tra i due brani più godibili dell’album. La successiva Copernicus è infatti una delle gemme del disco, una sorprendente ninna-nanna acustica, un po’ psichedelica e addirittura con qualche vaghissimo accenno elettronico che, dopo lo sbigottimento iniziale, appare comunque appropriato. Questo non è un brano, è un’esperienza: e vi consiglio di viverla restando al buio nella vostra stanza mentre fuori piove. Ogni volta che il ritornello si chiude con le parole «Left dangling in the wind», un brivido mi corre lungo la schiena, e il soffuso finale, dopo qualche ispirato passaggio di pianoforte, porta alla mente Disposition dei Tool e Moonchild dei King Crimson, la qual cosa non può essere in alcun caso un male. Chiude il conto l’inquieta ed energica Luciforms, il brano più lungo del disco (oltre che l’unico con un assolo di chitarra) anche se non lo dimostra, che conclude in stato di grazia questi cinquanta minuti di musica che, personalmente, mi hanno invogliato a ripercorrere anche i precedenti capitoli della loro discografia. E a sentirli dal vivo. Non mi risultano purtroppo notizie di imminenti esibizioni in suolo italico, essendo i nostri già passati all’Idroscalo di Milano il 26 giugno (proprio così, caro Riky, insieme ai perduti Faith No More!). Dicono che dal vivo facciano delle jam pazzesche e che il vocalist sul palco sia davvero indemoniato, quindi, se vi giunge voce… avvertitemi immediatamente!

Dopo averne ripetutamente parlato con un tono a dir poco entusiastico, è evidente che la mia proposta del giorno non poteva che ricadere su Cotopaxi. Vi consiglio vivamente di ascoltarla; è breve e concisa, e l’unica controindicazione è che il cantato potrebbe farvi venire un po’ di mal di testa. In alternativa, vi consiglio di andare sul sito ufficiale dei The Mars Volta, entrare nella sezione Video e ascoltarvi la molto più quieta Since We’ve Been Wrong. Non rimarrete delusi!

The Mars Volta, “Octahedron” (2009, Warner Bros)

1 )  Since We’ve Been Wrong  –  2 )  Teflon  –  3 )  Halo of Nembutals  –  4 )  With Twilight As My Guide  –  5 )  Cotopaxi  –  6 )  Desperate Graves  –  7 )  Copernicus  –  8 )  Luciforms

Ogni anno me ne vengo fuori con una compilation estiva per i miei conoscenti, una sorta di tradizione che continua dai tempi del liceo. Le compilation sono piccole creature d’amore, veri e propri omaggi a quegli artisti la cui musica diventa, giorno dopo giorno, ascolto dopo ascolto, la colonna sonora delle nostre vite.

Grazie a queta pratica (fare compilation, cassette, cd o anche semplici playlist) attraverso gli anni ho fatto conoscere moltissimi artisti a svariate persone, che poi si sono trovate anche a comprare dischi o ad andare ai concerti di questi musicisti. Di nuovo la domanda sorge spontanea; quanto realmente danneggia un musicista la cultura del file-sharing?

E comunque bisogna sempre guardare avanti, come ci dice Chris in questo brillante intervento su youtube. La grande opportunitá per gli artisti di slegarsi dalle logiche di mercato e dalle regole imposte dall’industria discografica sta proprio nel trovare alternative alla vendita del prodotto/disco.

Anche i Radiohead, che in una recente intervista affermavano che non avrebbero piú rilasciato un disco, non hanno annunciato la loro fine ma un nuovo inizio, come poi ha spiegato Colin Greenwood in un susseguente intervento. Gli artisti devono pensare le loro opere all’interno delle nuove culture tecnologiche e sociali. Il formato cd é ormai obsoleto. Un musicista oggi ha l’opportunitá di presentare i propri lavori sotto moltissime nuove forme, grazie soprattutto a internet.

Questa qui sotto é la mia compilation proposta per l’inverno. La tracklist é un semplice consiglio d’ascolto, ma guarda caso sono riuscito a trovarla da qualche parte in rete, perció se vi va di scaricarla, accomodatevi: http://is.gd/52rS9

Buon ascolto a tutti!!

THE COLONY COMPILATION
Winter 2010

01 – BIG ELF – Money is pure evil
02 – WOLFMOTHER – New Moon Rising
03 – PORCUPINE TREE – Time Flies
04 – DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA – Balrog Boogie
05 – JOHN ZORN – Miller’s Crake
06 – THE MARS VOLTA – Copernicus
07 – PINK MARTINI – And Then You’re Gone
08 – THE DEAR HUNTER – The Poison Woman
09 – NORAH JONES – Even Though
10 – TRANSATLANTIC – The wind blew them all away
11 – JULLIETTE LEWIS – Fantasy Bar
12 – TORI AMOS – Snow Angel
13 – BEARDFISH – Destined_solitaire
14 – ALICE – Island

Picture by Willoclick

Jeśli miałbym zacząć opisywać swój muzyczny świat, na pewno zacznę nie od “A” ale od “M”…Skoro więc wydumałem sobie kategorię “muzyka” (co przyszło mi do głowy zaraz po utworzeniu konta na RYM) to musi się ona zacząć od grupy The Mars Volta.

Zespół powstał w roku 2001, a ich album wydany w trzy lata później stał sie dla krytyków nie lada problemem…No bo gdzie ich umieścić? Rock progresywny? Alternative? Psychodela? Hardcore? Jazz fusion? (Swoją drogą: krytycy chyba nie mają co robić…po co komu 1532 gatunki muzyczne?)…Jedno jest pewne-album spotkał się z wysokimi ocenami krytyków (m.in.9/10 w NME) i podziałem słuchaczy na “nie-lubiących” i “wyznawców”…podział ten z płyty na płytę zdawał się pogłębiać.

Skład, prócz rdzenia (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – gitara, syntezatory, Cedric Bixler-Zavala – wokal, Isaiah Owens na klawiszach), jest niezwykle rozbudowany i wciąż się zmienia (chociażby ze względu na bogate instrumentarium)

Do ciekawszych postaci przewijających się przez skład zespołu mozna zaliczyć:

• Michael Balzary (Flea) – basista Red Hot Chili Peppers, bas na płycie debiutanckiej, trąbka na Frances the mute
• John Frusciante – gitarzysta Red Hot Chili Peppers, w składzie Volty gitara i (okazjonalnie) klawisze
• Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez – młodszy brat Cedrica, multiinstrumentalista (na koncertach promujących płytę Stadium Arcadium Red Hotów grał na kilku instrumentach)
• Adrián Terrazas-González – jazzowa nuta zespołu, specjalista od instrumentów dętych
• Paul Hinojos – gitarzysta, w żartach prawdziwy twórca zespołu (to on przedstawił sobie Omara i Cedrica)
• Jon Theodore – perkusja (m.in na Amputechture obłędna); później zastapiony przez Thomasa Pridgena

Dyskografia

• De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003)

Spokojny początek Son et Lumiere i gwałtownym wpadnięciem w wizje snujące się do KOŃCA-śmierci bohatera opowieści (Julio Venegasa) …Brzmienie nadal bliskie rockowi, wyszukany język i pierwsze oznaki niesamowitych umiejętności wokalnych Cedrica. W genialnym utworze Cicatriz ESP widać pierwiastek jazzowej improwizacji. Powstaje oniryczny i mistyczny teledysk Televators.

• Frances the Mute (2005)

Wyraźna inspiracja korzeniami etnicznymi członków zespołu-sporo tekstów po hiszpańsku i wpływ muzyki latynoamerykańskiej. Genialny “L’Via L’Viaquez” i kompozycje złożone z wieloczęściowych utworów pokazują kierunek rozwoju grupy…Kolejny teledysk grupy – The Widow.

• Amputechture (2006) – mój osobisty faworyt

Niesamowicie rozbudowane i wielowątkowe opowieści oraz rozbudowa instrumentarium zaowocowały zaproszeniem zespołu przez showmana Henry’ego Rollinsa do jego programu. Na antenie zagrali dwa “nietelewizyjne” (ze względu na długość) utwory – Tetragrammaton (16:41, na wskroś synkopowy) i Day of the Baphomets (11:57, podzielony na podutwory; obecnie najczęściej odsłuchiwany przez pana szpika utwór TMV).

• The Bedlam in Goliath (2008)

Inspiracja muzyką etniczną sięga do Afryki, slyszalne także wpływy bliskiego wschodu. W sumie nad albumem pracuje 16 muzyków, dołączają smyczki. Od strony promocyjnej pojawiają się w sieci “teledyski” z wygłupami zespołu przy pracy nad albumem.

• Octahedron (2009)

Najnowszy album jest koncepcyjnym podejściem do muzyki akustycznej. Choćto, co zespól nazywa łagodnym akustycznym graniem, jest brzmieniem dośc agresywnym. Mimo ciekawego With Twilight as My Guide i wyraźnie “voltowego” Cotopaxi czy osobistej sympatii do tytułu Copernicus, pan szpik woli Voltę z Amputechture i The Bedlam in Goliath.

Muzyka

Poniżej próbka muzyki zespołu (niestety, z racji braku oficjalnych teledysków posiłkuje się domowymi produkcjami fanów)

Początek debiutanckiej płyty (Son et Lumiere + Inertiatic ESP)…to chyba najlepsza jakość dźwięku jaką znalałem

Genialny Day of the Baphomets (w dwóch częściach)

Jeden ze spokojniejszych utworów Volty, Televators (z płyty De-Loused in the Comatorium; oficjalny teledysk)

I’m pretty excited about my new music blog, so let’s keep the ball rolling. Post número tres!

The Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez-López released his first Spanish-only solo album, Xenophanes, earlier this month. I think it’s cool enough for a late shout out.

The entire album can be found on YouTube. Here’s the first single.

Omar Rodriguez-López – Mundo De Ciegos

Thomas Pridgen.

As if firing one drummer isn’t enough, antiquiet has now confirmed through Thomas Pridgen’s facebook page that he is no longer part of the Mars Volta.

The Mars Volta had cancelled the last show on the US tour in Raleigh, North Carolina and rumors started flying around the message boards that it was because of a tiff between Pridgen and the band. In a Facebook post where Pridgen reported that he was recording new material, he confirmed that he was no longer working with the Mars Volta.

Rumors have Dave Elitch as the new drummer in the band according to the band’s forum.

To retell the story of the band that could have changed popular punk music forever, I’ve created an interactive Google Map that tracks At the Drive-In’s last month together in early 2001. From their performance at Big Day Out in Australia to their last show in the Netherlands, the map gives some insight into how the band started to break down towards the end of their run with pictures, videos and details of each concert. Later today I plan on posting a timeline chronicling the bands entire existence through photos.

View Larger Map

T-Pridge in his natural habitat

So after a baffling month long series of events, Thomas Pridgen has confirmed that his time is spent with those enigmatic visionaries, The Mars Volta. Events came to head last month at a gig in Columbus which saw our favorite kit destroying banshee take a taxi home alone during sound check. Fans were entirely SOL and worse rumors began quickly of a fight between Cedric and Thomas. Band poltics don’t concern me, however I will miss T-Pridge. I’ve come to love the level of joy he brings intp every insane roll and paradiddle he inflicts on the drum kit. Thomas was simply fun to watch the two times I saw him. He gave his debut with the band 2008’s The Bedlam in Goliath a frenetic terrifying energy and for that he will be missed. The question now remains as to who has the chops to live up to Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and his drive for perfection. Best of luck.

I will attempt to regularly post short capsule reviews of the albums I have selected to represent the best that 2000-2009 had to offer. Hopefully, I can get through them all before January 1st, when I will post the list in its entirety. The final list will be rated accordingly, but the reviews will be chosen at random. It’s become a fun way to re-experience these albums, some of which I haven’t listened to in awhile, and also a great reason to listen to many albums I have missed out on. Here are the first batch of capsules.

Nonesuch Records

Brian Wilson—SMiLE!

The most talked-about and longest-awaited rock album of all time just happened to finally be released in this particular decade. Great—looks like all the other albums on the list can pack up and go home, right? Not necessarily. Wilson may have finally finished his masterpiece some 40 years after the project’s original inception, but there is no way the SMiLE! that finally saw the light of day could ever have measured up to the album that should have been created in 1967, Wilson’s creative heyday. There’s just no way! First of all, Wilson’s voice is about 1/8 what it used to be—these days, he has hardly any range, and on top of that, very little personality to his voice. Still, none of these flaws make SMiLE! less great. Its impeccably crafted whimsy and stream-of-consciousness song cycle have become insanely influential, thanks to the underground circulation of bootlegs over the last four decades. Conceptually, idealistically, and in pretty much every sense save for its execution, SMiLE! ranks among the best rock records in history. It also could be #1 on my soon-to-be-written list of Rock and Roll’s Most Tragic Could-Have-Beens.

Grand Royal Records

At The Drive-In—Relationship of Command

Of all the bands that have broken up over the past decade, At The Drive-In should be missed the most. They brought a much-needed punk rock “fuck you” to the music industry in the late nineties, and took everyone completely by surprise—which is exactly what we need to happen today. Not a theoretical today, but actually TODAY. Tonight, At The Drive-In, or a band like them (yeah, right), need to be on David Letterman hopping around and dive-bombing the special guests. They need to be completely shredding ass to “One Armed Scissor” or a song like it (yeah, right). We NEED that, because seriously, how much more Biggest Loser and So You Think You Can Dance can this nation take? Why did ATDI have to go? If they had made one more album like Relationship of Command, it is likely music would be different today. Maybe that was too much pressure for them, which is understandable. This business eats people up. The question needs to be asked though—is this writer alone in the feeling that Mars Volta and Sparta were like the Devil’s cruel joke to anyone who never got lucky enough to see At The Drive-In live? Seriously.

Ashmont Records

Pernice Brothers—Yours, Mine & Ours

Very rarely do albums this sad evoke such feelings of happiness. It’s possible when the songs are just that good, and such is the case with the third album from the Pernice Brothers. Their career milestone to this day, Mine & Ours surprised and delighted those who were nonplussed by their iffy sophomore effort and carries a distinction very few records receive—it is a perfect album. That’s right, there’s not a bad song in the bunch. Granted, these songs are very melancholy and for the most part suit a certain mood, but music this good can’t be pigeonholed as “mood music”. It’s not something the listener can control. Undeniably catchy mope-anthems like “Weakest Shade of Blue” and “One Foot in the Grave” permeate and eventually become the mood. Once under the spell of the rock tunes, the listener is no match against breathtakingly beautiful ballads like “Blinded by the Stars” and “Number Two”. Almost always, they are rendered helpless and goo-like.

Mars Volta’s Ouroboros strikes me as the perfect first entry for such a blog.  Driving home from work, solidifying the concept of what I wanted to write about in my head, this came up on Super Shuffle.  (So, thanks iPod.)  I immediatly remembered Mars Volta’s Beldam in Goliath as decent but forgettable – which is why I was surprised to be instantly gripped by chugging guitars and screaming vocals, something I don’t remember at all from such a boring album.  (As an added bonus, the further tracks on the album – Ouroboros being track ten of twelve – were delightfully more powerful than anything I remember.  Remembering is weird.  That’s kind of part of what this blog is about.  Maybe.)

The mythical Ouroboros has represented intellectual infancy in most forms, from traditional Hermeticism to the more modern Jungian train of psychology.  A dragon eating its tail, constantly devouring itself, is in many ways a direct companion to the mythical phoenix – a rebirth of ideals, but at the cost of your previous form.  Ouroboros is more vague than that, however, as is a notable symbol of both Freemasonry and alchemy.

In the end, all of that is crap I learned while doing research into the lyrics of the song.  The fact is that it came up on my iPod, and it sounded like the then.  This is what I wanted to portray more with this blog – the rare two or three wisps of clouds floating across a just-barely-there blue hint in the now night sky stood out, catching the waning rays of orange light.  With music blasting and windows rolled up tight, I felt removed, felt driven from the song.  Despite traffic cruising by at high and higher speeds, I felt safe in the slow moments, hectic in the fast moments.  The still-darkening sky matched my mood and the mood of the song as it wound into the climactic final ten minutes of the album.

Thus, this blog is borne.  Thanks.

As a sort of feature for every week, I’ll be putting together a collection of tracks for different genres from live performances. This week is the post-hardcore genre with progressive influences. All these bands have exemplified more experimentation in the post-hardcore format and stand out from the typical punk/metalcore scene that has developed over the past few years.

Progressive Post-Hardcore Live Mix by phildavis89

The Sound of Animals Fighting

The first track is from The Sound of Animals Fighting off of their live DVD, We Must Become the Change We Want to See. It was the only recorded performance of the band where they played in front of a sold out crowd at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California. The Sound of Animals Fighting is a supergroup created by ex-RX Bandits member Rich Balling and features the likes of Anthony Green, the vocalist for Circa Surive, Craig Owens, the former vocalist for Chiodos, Matt Embree, the lead guitarist for the RX Bandits, Christopher Tsagakis, the drummer for the RX Bandits and several other guest appearances who showed up during the live show like Steve Choi from the RX Bandits helping on rhythm guitar and Joe Troy from the RX Bandits on bass.

The band’s sound can best be described as a fusion of the progressive punk featured in the RX Bandits with the heavier post-hardcore influence of Anthony Green’s Circa Survive and Craig Owens’s Chiodos. Their focus on more progressive scale verses is a fresh take on the power chord heavy genre.

The Fall of Troy.

The second track comes from The Fall of Troy. In early 2009, the band gave a visit to Hurley Studio in Costa Mesa, California to give a three song live set. The Fall of Troy takes a heavier approach to the post-hardcore genre, taking influences from bands like At the Drive-In and The Blood Brothers while creating crazy, technically proficient guitar riffs to drive their songs. To view the full set, click here for the video performance of “I Just Got This Symphony Going,” “Chapter III: Nostalgic Mannerisms” and the now titled “Nobody’s Perfect” (Called “Untitled” in the performance).

Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta. Picture taken by Nick Helderman.

Speaking of At the Drive-In, the last song on the playlist comes from the ashes of the highly influential post-hardcore with The Mars Volta. The performance of “Inertiatic E.S.P.” comes from the rare recorded performance of the band at the Electric Ballroom in Camden Town, England on July 9, 2003. While The Mars Volta tend to lean more on the progressive side with their music; the band’s first full-length release, De-Loused in the Comatorium, showed the band had not completely abandoned their punk and post-hardcore roots with songs like this one.

Despues de tanto tiempo sin actualizar os quiero recomendar un disco.

De-Loused in the Comatorium The MARS VOLTA.

The Mars Volta es un grupo de Rock progresivo estadounidense fundado por Omar Rodríguez-López y Cedric Bixler-Zavala antiguos integrantes de At The Drive-in.
Se los puede clasificar como dentro del rock progresivo experimental, con influencias del punk, el jazz y los ritmos latinos.
1. Son et Lumiere — 1:35
2. Inertiatic ESP — 4:24
3. Roulette Dares (The Haunt of) — 7:31
4. Tira Me a las Arañas — 1:29
5. Drunkship of Lanterns — 6:20
6. Eriatarka — 7:06
7. Cicatriz ESP — 12:29
8. This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed — 4:58
9. Televators — 6:19
10. Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt — 8:42

Bajatelo!!

The eighteen or so years that Omar Rodriguez-López and Cedric Bixler Zavala have spent making music together have been a prime example of the theory of musical evolution, a journey of exploration that’s seen the duo refuse to stand still, maturing and growing ever bolder in their art. From Omar’s first joining their previous group, El Paso’s lauded and lamented At The Drive-In, and progressively pushing that band in more experimental directions that ultimately pulled it apart, to Omar’s composing of epic scores and Cedric’s creation of lyrical novellas to complement them resulting in The Mars Volta’s first two albums, theirs has always been a partnership that has prioritized challenge over contentment.

“The only objective, throughout, has been to always move forward,” says bandleader Omar, speaking from the recording compound in Mexico from which he currently helms The Mars Volta. “To always make the next album sound different to the one that came before it, to always be evolving.”

And so it has been, with the Mars Volta from day one. The band was already rehearsing during the entropic latter phase of At The Drive-In, and well before that Omar and Cedric had maintained the extracurricular dub outlet De Facto with future Mars Volta members Ikey Owens and the late Jeremy Ward (whose life would inspire the narrative of the Volta’s 2005 sophomore effort Frances The Mute). In 2002, The Mars Volta’s primordial three-song Tremulant EP would materialize on the band’s own GSL label. Their earliest shows and recordings captured the frantic, chaotic pell mell of their origins, a riot of ideas veering off in every direction, until they began to settle into something of a cohesive lineup and musical focus to produce a modern progressive masterpiece in the form of De-Loused In The Comatorium. Over the course of ten sprawling stunning compositions that improbably formed a greater whole, this astonishing debut album served as an elegy and dramatization of the life of Julio Venegas, a friend and mentor to the young Omar and Cedric who had succeeded in taking his own life after multiple suicide attempts. For the purpose of the album, Venegas re-imagined as the fictional character Cerpin Taxt, the songs chronicling his potential adventures in the dreamscape of a suicide attempt-induced coma.

Dashing the predictions of post-ATDI detractors, De-Loused… debuted to stellar critical and commercial reaction. The first proper Mars Volta headline shows saw the band perform the album in its entirety, a cathartic and grueling nightly marathon that often ended with band members in tears, as the album improbably went gold. Emboldened by this success, Omar and Cedric solidified their core live group of bassist Juan Alderete de la Pena, keyboardist Isaiah “Ikey” Owens, percussionist Marcel Rodriguez-López (Omar’s brother), flute/tenor sax player Adrian Terrazas and drummer Jon Theodore and began work on an even more ambitious sophomore effort. Like De-Loused…, the album would be inspired by the loss and remembrance of a close friend, this time Mars Volta sound manipulator Jeremy Ward, who passed away unexpectedly not long after De-Loused… was released. 2005’s Frances The Mute’s narrative revolved around an adopted protagonist’s search for his biological parents and its ultimately unsatisfying resolution, mirroring the experiences of Ward’s tragic life story. The first Mars Volta record to be produced by Omar (De-Loused… had Rick Rubin manning the boards with Omar), Frances The Mute again defied and surpassed all expectations, entered the Billboard 200 at #4, featured contributions from legendary musical figures from David Campbell to Larry Harlow to now regular Volta studio guitarist and erstwhile Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante, and spawned an actual hit single in the form of “The Widow.” The live shows in support of Frances The Mute–which found Omar and Cedric’s former ATDI bandmate Pablo Hinojos reuniting with them–would be the band’s most ambitious and intense to date, as they headlined and sold out venues including the Greek Theaters in Berkeley and Los Angeles, while Frances… climbed toward half a million U.S. sales. All in all, a more than fitting tribute to another fallen friend.

For Amputechture in 2006, Omar and Cedric tore up the script yet again, deciding to make their third full length their first without a central unifying theme. Omar likened the surreal single song vignettes and their impressionistic tales of heresy, intolerance, demon worship and the like to vintage episodes of the original Night Gallery and Twilight Zone TV series. While Amputechture proved the most difficult of The Mars Volta discography to date–Omar and Cedric came to regard to the record as their autistic child, the one that related the least to others but that they nurtured the most–standout tracks such as “Viscera Eyes” and “Day Of The Baphomets” remain live favorites to this day.

The period following Amputechture’s release and ensuing tour seemed plagued with mishaps and misfortune. Drummer Jon Theodore was let go and the band struggled to retain a stable replacement. Live dates were marred and postponed by inexplicable equipment issues and Cedric’s suffering a strange and hobbling injury. An engineer suddenly lost his mental composure and a flood disabled Omar’s studio. The band ultimately recognized a correlation between things unraveling and the appearance of the primitive Ouija prototype “talking board” Omar had picked up in Israel and gifted Cedric with upon his return. Nicknamed the Soothsayer, the board had been telling the band members an unfolding story of seduction, infidelity and murder featuring colorful characters that ultimately coalesced into the malevolent Goliath. By the time the Soothsayer’s label peeled back to reveal pre-Aramaic writings of ominous origin, Goliath’s stories had morphed into pleas that escalated into threats. Omar took matters into his hands and traveled to remote and random location, burying the Soothsayer in an unmarked grave, a place that would never be revealed to any of his band mates and that would hopefully escape his memory as well.

The legacy of the Soothsayer would be The Bedlam In Goliath, The Mars Volta’s fourth album, released in early 2008 to a #3 Billboard debut. A virtual musical embodiment of madness incarnate, The Bedlam In Goliath eschewed the gradual build of previous Mars Volta records, diving feet first into frenzy on the opening “Aberinkula,” which also marked Volta fans’ first recorded impression of new drumming powerhouse Thomas Pridgen. As the album progressed, “Ilyena,” “Goliath,” “Soothsayer” and even the unsettlingly quiet eye of the storm that was “Tourniquet Man” gave musical substance to the characters and stories conveyed to Omar and Cedric through the Soothsayer. Much like the band’s experience with the ancient and insidious talking board, The Bedlam In Goliath is a chilling yet addictive experience–and one that ultimately nabbed the band its first ever Grammy, as the track “Wax Simulacra” took home the Best Hard Rock Performance statuette from the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in February 2009.

For Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, the studio isn’t just another tool at his disposal, or even something as simple as an instrument in its own right. The studio is his laboratory, his playground, the place where he can take the raw bones of his songs, his fresh-born ideas, and refine and experiment with them, twisting them into radical new shapes, sending them hurtling in askance directions.

For The Mars Volta’s brand new fifth album Octahedron, however, Omar adopted an oblique and entirely new strategy, one he’d never tried before in the group’s career. Having cut the basic tracks for this new album, instead of retreating to the studio to tinker endlessly with the songs and recordings, he chose to step away. Instead of feverishly adulterating the tapes with the mosaic of overdubs and FX that have typically aided Omar in realizing his concepts, he chose instead to polish and refine what he had, to hold back on every bell and every whistle. The result is, he says, the first of his albums that he can listen to for pleasure. It is also an album that distils all of the energy, all of the furious invention that characterizes music with a clarity they’ve never before achieved. In keeping with this spirit, Omar pared the band down to a 6-piece lineup, asking Hinojos and Terrazas to leave, both of whom did so amicably.

“It was really challenging, to hold back,” he smiles. “To add many layers, or an instrumental freak-out section here or there, began to feel predictable to me, so I started putting restraints on myself, saying no, you aren’t going to add 97 extra parts to this song. I reined it in, and kept it to the core of what those songs were.”

Octahedron is an album heady with the emotion and high-drama that has always been The Mars Volta’s trademark, their newfound simplicity and focus delivering some of the most immediate and powerful songs in their discography. Lyrically, Cedric employed ‘disappearance’ as a loose theme, inspired by the culture of kidnapping that has latterly infected the group’s current home of Mexico, by the mysterious disappearances that populate the library of urban myth, and the way emotions – even the strongest, purest emotions – can mysteriously, but entirely, ebb away.

The album opens with the tender ache of “Since We’ve Been Wrong,” Cedric’s keening vocal establishing a mood that’s deeply blue, powerfully melancholic, a sucker punch that hits every bit as hard as Octahedron’s unashamed rockers (the gleaming futuristic funk of “Teflon,” the tense chase-music of “Cotopaxi”). Pulling back from the full-tilt experimentation of previous releases, Octahedron invests its energies in Omar’s gift for song craft, for swooning guitar runs of high tension and emotive power (closer “Luciforms”‘ epic riffage), for the nagging hooks and choked melodies that wreath the churning rhythms of “Desperate Graves.” “For me, all that’s important is if something moves you or not,” explains Omar. “I’ve never tried to be tricky, to be complicated; if it gives me goosebumps, I’ll use it. If it’s striking, if it hits me as a listener, that’s all that matters to me.”

Ultimately, the album is another in a series of testaments to Omar and Cedric’s unassailable faith in following their muse in whichever direction it takes them; thus far the journey’s been the ride of the creative lifetime, and they see no sense it second-guessing it yet, especially not when it delivers so pointedly powerful a record as Octahedron.

“The only reason we even have a fan base is because I’ve stayed true to my instincts,” nods Omar. “We’ve not tried to repeat previous successes to make them happy, we’ve stayed true to ourselves, and made the music that we want to make, and that’s what they respond to. They can sense this is something really pure.” And on Octahedron, perhaps purer than ever.

DOORS 7.30 pm Tickets € 28,50

http://www.013.nl/event/2986_the_mars_volta

or when mixing things starts getting messy

Well, when i had several unfinished projects comes the time when I’m feeling tempted to mix them. So I took my Colored waveforms and mixed them with my flocking thingies… Completely ignoring audio levels and taking in account the tone frequencies converted in colors, turned the flock into a random number of bugs joined by lines that followed the mouse on click resulting in an audio colored flocking brush.

Cicatriz ESP chorus, sang by... me.

Also it turned into an interesting opportunity to try and write to se what kind of typographic artifacts would appear.

My Name, Also known as "i didn't sleep last night"

It’s pretty lovely to have a brush changing it’s color depending on input. Eventually I made a painting tool which could be controlled by singing or whistling. Eventually I will upload a video demo of how it works.

Besides from Motion Graphics and Compositing, one of my interests on learning processing was to be able to create illustrations by using audio as the data source for visualization, not moving visuals, but paintings that were made of audio. This has been a long term project for me which has evolved on many different ways to create audio paintings, which will be logged in this blog over time.

The first attempt at creating representations of audio started as a particular new type of waveform. It started by my first looks at Jared Tarbell’s Sand Strokes. In which I thought they were stylish waveforms coming from audio sources… after reading, I noticed they were not, and started my own proyect for creating different waveforms which were more informative and more pleasant to the eye than the traditional ones.

The Mars Volta's "Frances the mute" album, Illustrated

So, thanks to minim i managed to easily read both input audio and audio from files, take their fft and interpret the audio’s frequency to create a false-color to add to the classic waveform. At that time i was drawing by using every audio sample with it’s frequency information, which probed itself not very useful when rendering high audio levels.

The nice thing about this version was that different genres of music yielded completely different results and the variety in the use of percussion and certain instruments was clearly visible… and white noise looked… white

A day at my work using the live input

Nice about this version also, was that different people’s voices returned different colors because of their different tones and everyone could expend a while staring at my computer’s screen making weird noises.

Most of good albums for 2009 are already out. I’ve compiled the traditional top 10 list for this year. Any album that is still coming out i doubt will figure in this list since 2009 was such a great year for music compared with 2008.

Please feel free to comment if you think some album in your opinion is missing. I didn’t make the review for all of them because I didn’t want to post too much crap, if you want a specific review in this list let me know.

Total list i listened to was 146 albums for this year, this is the top 10.

1. Riverside – Anno Domini High Definition

Riverside comes back with a the first album of a new trilogy. New sounds, cohesive music changes, innovative and fresh music. Riverside have composed an album which is a perfect reflection of our times. An offering full of symbolism starting with the fact that the title of their fourth release consists of four words and that the album is precisely 44:44 minutes long and an intelligent take on current reality. Anno Domini High Definition is not a concept album in the classic sense, although it features a central theme and a haunting message. “It’s an album about people who know they need to speed up or they’ll get left behind”

2. Porcupine Tree – The Incident

London’s legendary Porcupine tree 10th studio album. Takes the listener on a thrilling audio journey. In turns haunting, desolate, hypnotic and euphoric, its centre-piece is the title track: a stunning 55-minute musical statement that breaks down into 14 separate and often diverse (though interlinked) vignettes. Not the best work of the band but still whatever Porcupine Tree delivers is above anything out in the market. Excellent sound mixing and supreme recording quality.

3.  Mastodon – Crack the Skye

Mastodon has taken hold of the leadership of the New Wave of Progressive Heavy Metal. Crack The Skye, its fourth original studio album, mines subject matter from czarist Russia and astral travel to out-of-body experiences and Stephen Hawking’s theories on wormholes for an unrepentantly heavy aural assault that will shake the heavens. Some personal songs for the band members and really really impressive guitar riffs make this the third on the list for 2009.

4.  Dream Theater – Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Black Clouds & Silver Linings marks another milestone on Dream Theater’s iconoclastic musical journey, which began two and a half decades ago and now encompasses a hugely impressive body of music that’s established the durable progressive metal outfit as a one-of-a-kind creative force with a fiercely devoted international fan base. The new album – produced by band members Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, who also serve as the group’s main lyricists – offers a vibrant manifestation of the world-class musicianship, vivid lyrical scenarios and ambitious, multi-leveled compositions that have established Dream Theater as a uniquely compelling creative force.

5. Transatlantic – The Whirlwind

A nice surprise in a year full of nice surprises! Not bad at all! I have to sayI was never a big fan of Transatlantic. Not that they were bad, no way. I have both their first albums and I think they are quite good. But I felt something was missing even if their sound had most of what a prog fan wanted: great musicanship, good songwriting, good production and the right influences (meaning symphonic rock of the 70´s). But it lacked a kind of spark. Besides, Neal Morse was clearly the main protagonist on those CDs, making them sound a bit too much like Spock´s Beard (never one of my favorite bands).Well, I´m glad to say that with The Whirldwind they finally made the album we were all waiting for when we heard those musicians were assembling a group. The record drips with the power and conviction that lacked on the previous CDs. And Roine Stolt definitly takes the spotlight here much of the time. Now the band sounds fully like a band. Peter Trewavas is playing some of the heaviest bass in his career (much in the vein of the great Chris Squire), while Mike Portnoy shows he is a truly prog drummer. Best Transatlantic CD to date! The one the finally fulfilled the great expectations of having such extraordinaire musicians doing something as a group.

6.  Lamb of God – Wrath

Wrath is inspired by and based on the 10 plagues from the book of Exodus. After the reflective Sacrament (2006), a deeply personal album that found Blythe exorcising his personal demons, Wrath turns its lyrical focus outward, and returns to more of the breakneck riffing that characterized the band’s early material. A more “raw” sound that revives the metal genre with this excelent release from the pure american metal band, Lamb of God. As always, the musicianship is top notch here, especially the guitar playing, and of course, the drums. I consider Chris Adler to be the druming act that nowadays defies genre.

7.  The mars Volta – Octahedron

Hailed by The New Yorker as ‘perhaps the most musically adventurous act currently signed to a major label’ and by Rolling Stone as 2008’s Best Prog-Rock Band, The Mars Volta makes its Warner Bros. debut with Octahedron, the highly acclaimed group’s fifth studio album. Compared to last year Bedlam in goliath this is a completely different approach from the band to a more acoutic music development. Beautifully constructed, with nice melodic sections accross all the album.
My number one complaint (and there were very few of them) about The Bedlam in Goliath is that the band never took a moment to relax on that album. With every song being fast paced and loud I longed for those moments on a Volta record where I could take a breather before the next relentless thirteen minute prog rock latin jazz head bopping track would begin. Octahedron is the Ying to that albums Yang. I for one welcome a much slower album that builds to a more meaningful and impactful conclusion.

8.  Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays

I wasn’t really sure if the finish Sonata Arctica would even make the top 10 this year on the first few listens to the album. However The Days of Grays is a nice consolidation of what Sonata Arctica has done on the past few years. With inventive and accurate musicianship the have managed to place all the pieces of the jigsaw together and make a nice mix of (Silence / Winterheart’s Guild) and ( Reckoning Night / Unia ) which were two different eras in the band’s history. Now the’ve returned more to their roots but seems like after passing through the Reckoning /Unia era they have brought back with them the best of that musical approach to the traditional speedy that is more like the early days that made them known worldwide.

9.  The Dear Hunter – Act III: Life and death

Following up where Act II left off Act III is more melodic record with the heavy parts heavier, and the soft parts more serene. Set in a WWI era, “Act III” documents the metamorphosis of a fictional central character as he makes the transition from innocence to impurity. This is heavily produced, highly emotional crossover-prog-rock. A lot of it plays like old time show tunes, or like Broadway musical tunes. There are multilayered harmonies (gorgeous), punctuating horns, and soaring string arrangements, alongside inventive guitar and keyboard parts. The Dear Hunter has been one of the underground bands that deserve more attention due of the crescent quality of their music along with every release. Act III beign the best so far that the band has released.

10.  Maudlin of the Well – Part the Second

Maudlin of the Well’s Part the Second is an almost unbelievable testament to what can happen between a truly talented artist and devoted fans. This album was funded by fan contributions (in fact expanded from a limited record of old ideas to a complete album project integrating new and old material) and then returned to those fans over the internet for free. This alone is so mind-blowingly cool, how music should be, that the album will hold a place in history that I hope becomes a model for what can be when we keep the music as the focus. But the fact is that the result is worthy of its historical place, a modern masterpiece. How all these things aligned seems almost divine. But perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. The love of music will never die. And not just any music would be able to muster this kind of support. Perhaps it was the fuel of that love that made the music as wonderful as it turned out.  Despite being very experimental, melodic themes pass through different parts in classical fashion, moods ebb and flow perfectly, and rhythms evolve from simple to complex without ever announcing their cleverness.

————————

So with this we conclude this years list. Every single album is excellent, hurray for 2009 in music. I just picked them as I like them best. Hope you like the list !!

Some other good recommendations are:

Gazpacho – Tick Tock;
Diablo Swing Orchestra – Sing Along Songs for the damned and delirious;
Between the buried and me – the great misdirect

Doctor-X

The other day I came to realise how big 2009 has been for new music. By “new music”, I mean newly released albums, not necessarily new artists (though there have been a notable couple). Anyway, as we are coming to the close of 2009, I decided it would be nice to take a look back on some of the musical works that have mattered to me this year. Evidently, not all the albums that have influenced me are likely to have influenced you, the reader, and vice versa, but I hope you find this interesting nonetheless.

(N.B. Albums are listed in chronological order of their respective UK release dates)

2009 started slowly for music, hence the lack of any (IMHO) worthwhile album release until mid-May to comment upon. It’s therefore fitting that the first album to be reviewed is one that Eminem fans have been waiting 5 years for, ever since the release of Encore in 2004. The obvious question is whether this album was worth the wait. For me, the answer is ‘no’, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Eminem has failed. I think it was an album that really promised much, but didn’t quite deliver. At first unimpressed by the album’s first single release, ‘We Made You’, the song did grow on me. The second single, ‘Beautiful’, was by far the best track, which makes me wonder why Eminem wastes so many album minutes with his tacky comical raps, when his more meaningful songs are in my opinion the most lasting. You ask someone to name as many Eminem songs as they can, and I’m sure ‘Stan’ would be one of the first mentioned. As an album, it’s not a classic, but it does contain a gem or two.

Album: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Kasabian are one of those bands that will never create anything memorable, but they do have a knack of producing music worth listening to. This most recent release is much like their previous two in the sense that it doesn’t quite deliver as an album, but does boast some real quality songs. Tracks that fall into this category are ‘Underdog’ (initially known as the music from the Kaka advert), ‘Where Did All The Love Go?’ and the very cool ‘Fire’. My favourite song however, is the jumpy ‘Vlad The Impaler’, the video for which stars comedian Noel Fielding. The song provides something new and original, with its relentless drum beat and rough vocals.

Album: The E.N.D (The Energy Never Dies)

I can’t say I was a fan of Black Eyed Peas up until this album, though I must admit I quite liked ‘Let’s Get Retarded’/'Let’s Get It Started’. When the first single to be taken from this two-disc album, ‘Boom Boom Pow’, hit the music channels, I was relatively unmoved. However, the more I heard the song, the more it grew on me. The song is presented as if it were being mixed by a DJ at a club, and I like this idea. I decided to give the album a go on the basis of this song, and I was pleasantly surprised. The highlight for me however, is a remix of the song ‘Don’t Phunk With My Heart’, renamed ‘Don’t Phunk Around’. There is a strong jazzy influence that works really well, and is probably my favourite song off the album. They also remix ‘Pump It’ (‘Pump It Harder’), ‘Let’s Get Retarded’ (‘Let’s Get Re-Started’) and ‘Shut Up’ (‘Shut the Phunk Up’), which are all worth a listen.

Album: Octahedron

Anyone who knows me will know that I love The Mars Volta. I just can’t get enough of their weird and wonderful ways. They are not a band that likes to rest on their laurels, which explains their constantly evolving nature, and also explains why, only 16 months after their previous release, The Bedlam In Goliath, they are already pushing out a new album. Lead singer, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, stated that this album would be their version of an acoustic album:

“We know how people can be so linear in their way of thinking, so when they hear the new album, they’re going to say, ‘This is not an acoustic album! There’s electricity throughout it!’ But it’s our version. That’s what our band does — celebrate mutations. It’s our version of what we consider an acoustic album.”

This considered, it’s really no surprise to find that only two songs (of eight) fall under that category. In spite of this, the album definitely has another atmosphere to it, which they seem to accomplish with every CD they’ve produce. One of the many reasons I’m in awe of them. This album definitely has a strong sense of eeriness about it. Though this element has hardly been vacant in previous works, it appears to me to be more potent in this case. The album also demonstrates the use of a lot of synthesizers, which introduce, as well as end many of the songs. Notable songs are: ‘Since We’ve Been Wrong’ – a delicately crafted song until midway through when the drums explode in, yet the song still somehow maintains it’s intricacy; ‘Teflon’ – carried by a simple yet powerful drumbeat, this song is probably the creepiest in terms of lyrics as we hear about tyres stacked up around a body whilst on fire, and if that wasn’t enough, we get an insight into life as a terrorist; ‘Desperate Graves’ – a song which can be described as a frantic masterpiece, displaying a soaring beat dressed with some very melodic guitar work, but the highlight is the interlude, which manifests some truly powerful vocal work; ‘Luciforms’ – after 1:38mins of synth, this final song begins and soon reaches the chorus, the guitar in which can only be described as frenzied. Then, halfway through the song, it goes up a gear, as the drums pick up and more musical facets are introduced, climaxing with a long, yet insane guitar solo. Beautiful.

Album: Black Clouds and Silver Linings

This provides exactly what you’d expect from a Dream Theater album. Complex riffs, frequent shifts in tempo and mood. The special edition of this album actually boast three discs. The first being the actual album, plain and simple, the second is a concoction of cover songs, and the third disc contains instrumental versions of songs from disc one. My personal favourite is disc two, with the most noteworthy songs being a medley of Queen songs (‘Tenement Funster’, ‘Flick Of The Wrist’ and ‘Lily Of The Valley’), Dixie Dregs’ ‘Odyssey’ and ‘Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part Two’ by the magnificent King Crimson. On the whole, the album is a worthwhile listen for any fan of Dream Theaters music, but nothing more.

Album: Lungs

In my opinion the best debut album to surface this year, and certainly one of the overall best albums of 2009 in its own right. I first encountered Florence And The Machine when they performed a song on Jonathan Ross’ talk show earlier this year and I was instantly intrigued, but nothing more. Then I saw the video for the same song, ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’, and knew I had to hear more. I wasn’t disappointed. From beginning to end, Lungs grips you with powerful vocals, mesmeric drumbeats and a harp! Nobody can contest the fact that this album demonstrates originality, and aside from the tracks released as singles, still impresses,  particularly with the hypnotic ‘Drumming’ and the dreamy ‘Between Two Lungs’ to name but a few.

Album: Conditions

If anyone isn’t familiar with the band nor album, they may well be familiar with their only hit to date. The song ‘Sweet Disposition’ was used in a Sky Sports advert promoting the start of the 09/10 Premier League season – the one with Mourinho saying the word ‘Special’ a lot. Anyway, maybe it was because of this advert, but I came to really like the song, so I took a chance on the album. I would describe their style Sigur Rós but with more guitars. They definitely show the kind of melodic vocals you would associate with Sigur Rós, though the lyrics are definitely more comprehensible. It’s a decent album and I would definitely recommend it.

Album: Catch 22

I’m not sure what genre this album would fall under – hip hop, rap, grime – but regardless of that, it would probably be the best album of that genre of 2009. However, that isn’t to say that it’s perfect. Tinchy Stryder has a very simple but effective style, but the downside of that, is that it means many of his songs sound quite similar. This also isn’t helped by the fact that there are a massive 18 tracks on the album, which I feel is a little excessive. What is actually Tinchy’s second full-length album, Catch 22, does however possess a few songs that really stand out. Singles ‘Number 1′ (featuring Dappy) and ‘You’re Not Alone’ are the obvious ones, but ‘Warning’ and ‘Shake Me are also worthwhile tracks. Tinchy seems to have what it takes to succeed in the music industry and I can only see him going from strength to strength.

Album: Humbug

I’m certainly not the biggest Arctic Monkeys fan, but they are definitely well worth a listen. Their third studio album, Humbug, has lived up to this, but not exceeded it. Like their two preceding albums, Humbug isn’t the most consistent. By this, I mean that it’s rather ‘hit and miss’. ‘Crying Lightning’ is one of the highlights with it’s boorish bass and reverberating guitars, along with album-opener ‘My Propeller’, ‘Dangerous Animals’ and my personal favourite, ‘Pretty Visitors’. The other songs are rather indistinctive, which is disappointing. It would appear that the Arctic Monkeys popularity may actually begin to wane, which would have been unthinkable three or four years ago.

Album: The Blueprint 3

I never really ‘got’ Jay-Z in the past, but I recently listened to a bit of his older stuff to see what all the fuss was about. Anyway, I can see why he’s so popular, but in my opinion, there only seems to be 2 or 3 decent songs per album. His most recent release has done nothing to change this. I do however really love ‘D.O.A (Death Of Auto-Tune)’, which has a strong jazz influence, ‘Empire States Of Mind’, which features Alicia Keys, and ‘Young Forever’, a cover of Alphaville’s ‘Forever Young’ and features Mr Hudson. Moreover, the album boasts collaborations with Kanye West, Rihanna, Timbaland and The Neptunes, which is one of the main reasons for my disappointment. Ultimately, I expected more.

Album: The Resistance

Strangely enough I wasn’t awaiting this latest album of Muse as impatiently as I have done in the case of their previous releases. I think this could mainly be due to the way Muse leaked songs on their official website in the weeks leading up to the official release. It’s as if this only served to dilute the anticipation of the album, and had a detrimental effect on my own personal excitement. All that aside, the album is very well put together. For me, it is distinctly different to their earlier albums, and thus satisfies what I ultimately want from a Muse album. I think my favoruites would have to be ‘Resistance’, ‘Undisclosed Desires’, ‘Unnatural Selection’ and ‘MK ULTRA’. Not to forget the three-part song, ‘Exogenesis:  Symphony’, neither, which displays a very strong classical influence and takes the rough form of a classical piece, which I find so refreshing. As an album, I would say it is one of their best, even though I feel its songs, on their own merit, are perhaps not the most withstanding.

Album: Herald Moth

When InMe first came onto the scene way back in 2002 (I think), for me, they could do no wrong. I’ve seen them live on several occasions, but I lost much of my interest in them after bassist, Joe Morgan, left the band. I still listened to their last album, Daydream Anonymous, which was their first post-Morgan, but it wasn’t the same. I didn’t even realise their most recent  release, Herald Moth, was out until a friend asked me my thoughts on it. Anyway, I got round to listening to it recently, and was quite impressed. They’ve acquired a new band member, who I’m assuming is on rhythm guitar, and it seems to have worked, because their latest album does deliver. It’s not quite a return to their earlier stuff, but they do seem to have incorporated it in a way that was perhaps missing from their Daydream Anonymous. Particular mentions have to go to ‘The Art Of Moderation’, ‘Ferocity In Desire’, ‘Happy To Disappoint You’ and ‘You Won’t Hear From Me Again’, which in my opinion are the stand-out tracks on the album.

Album: Tongue N’ Cheek

I never really realised this before, but many of these hip hop album seem to be quite hit and miss. This is no coincidence, and Tongue N’ Cheek is much the same. It has a few amazing tracks. I was skeptical about ‘Bonkers’ when I heard it the first few times, but it grew on me massively. This song is in its element though, when it’s being belted out at a club, much like another song off the album, ‘Holiday’. For me, this song is all about the last minute or so. The rest of the song is rather insignificant in comparison. It’s hard not to jump up and down when the dance part of the song kicks in. The other notable song has a strong reggae influence and is called ‘Can’t Tek No More’. Ultimately, the album is worth a listen, but it’s not one I will go back to in the future.

Album: Liebe ist für alle da

Any fan of Rammstein will know of the long wait that has been endured since 2005’s Rosenrot, but Rammstein have finally returned and it was well worth the wait. However, it personally didn’t seem like this would be the case after hearing one of the songs, ‘Pussy’, which is exactly what it sounds like. Basically, I didn’t have high expectations for the album after hearing this song. The album begins in typical Rammstein fashion – a quiet, melodic intro that is soon interrupted by a brash chaos encapsulated by the shouted “RAMM!…..STEIN!…..” This opening song, Rammleid, really sets the album off like a timebomb. There are so many strong songs that follow. ‘Waidmanns Heil’ is an excellent fast-paced track that probably boasts my favourite lyrics from the album (“Auf dem Lande, Auf dem Meer, Lauert das Verderben, Die Kreatur muss sterben!”), while my personal favourite, ‘Wiener Blut’, is an awesome song that regularly jumps between loud and quiet, fast and slow. The most notable aspect of this album though, is the originality of it. Past Rammstein albums have tended to be quite rigid, but there definitely is a distinct impression with Liebe ist für alle da that they are pushing boundaries. This can be seen in the song ‘Haifisch’, for instance. Im Großen und Ganzen, ein sehr gutes Album.

Album: Only Revolutions

I do like a bit of Biffy. Given that this album has only been in the shops for three days now, it’s hard to give a well-informed opinion. I will try nonetheless. Having heard some songs from Only Revolutions prior to its release, I will concentrate on these. ‘Mountains’ has been around for ages, and wasn’t actually intended for this album, but it’s there. Aside from the chorus, which I find a little ‘poppy’, it’s a decent song. I like the odd rhythm in the verse and the piano solo midway through adds an extra dimension to the song. ‘That Golden Rule’ is a definite contender for my favourite song off the album. I love the hectic nature of the song, which suddenly melts away come the chorus. The highlight of the song though, is the ending. It begins like the quiet before the storm, as the suspenseful drums soon give way to an excellently heavy guitar/string sequence. As for ‘The Captain’, the less said the better. I wasn’t impressed by it at all. As for the rest of the album, generally speaking, it has its moments, but I don’t think it will be enough to replicate the kind of success Biffy experienced with Puzzle.

Well, I hope this was in some way helpful/interesting. It took me a while, but I did enjoy writing it. I hope you have enjoyed reading it.

Errr-Magazine te invita a asistir a la presentación de su edición No. 2:

Habrá un concierto de Adrián Terrazas González, saxofonista de Mars Volta; lo acompañan Carlos Maldonado (Los Dorados) y Gabriel Puentes. Ademas habrá un cocktail de honor patrocinado por Dos Equis y una sesión de música por parte del sello discográfico Arts&Crafts.

La cita es el día jueves 12 de noviembre en el Museo de la Ciudad de México (Pino Suárez 30, entre Rep. del Salvador y Rep. de Uruguay, Col. Centro Histórico), de 20:00 a 24:00 hrs.

Si quieren estar en la lista de invitados confirmen su asistencia a este correo estoesmio@errr-magazine.com

Evento sólo para mayores de 18 años, no olvides llevar tu ID

48 – Placebo – Battle for the sun

Battle For The Sun

Nuevo disco, nuevo baterista, mismo productor y misma formula pero con menos pegada. La banda de Molko sigue anquilosada en su propio estilo, falta frescura, ya no llegan como lo hacían antes y eso se nota.
Sin duda uno de los discos más esperados del año, y también una de las grandes decepciones.

Sin embargo, los fans de Placebo si que disfrutarán de este disco ya que cuenta con todos los ingredientes que han hecho de sus anteriores trabajos unos grandísimos discos, y es solo esa pequeña falta de chispa la que desdice por completo el resultado final de este álbum.

Por supuesto, cuenta con temas pegadizos, con buenas melodías y una buena producción, pero evidentemente, no es suficiente para lo que hay que exigir a Placebo. A destacar del disco los temas, Battle For The Sun, Speak In Tongues y Come Undone.

1.”Kitty Litter”
2.”Ashtray Heart”
3.”Battle for the Sun”
4.”For What It’s Worth”
5.”Devil in the Details”
6.”Bright Lights”
7.”Speak in Tongues”
8.”The Never-Ending Why”
9.”Julien”
10.”Happy You’re Gone”
11.”Breathe Underwater”
12.”Come Undone”
13.”Kings of Medicine”

Descargar: PLACEBO – BATTLE FOR THE SUN

47 – The Mars Volta – Octahedron

Octahedron

Y si esperado era el nuevo trabajo de Placebo, tanto o más lo era la cita anual de la banda de Omar Rodríguez López, que cumple con las expectativas solo a medias.

Un disco de temas lentos, con Cotopaxi (tema 100% Mars Volta) como interludio, compuesto por 8 temas semiacusticos, que si bien dicen mucho de la búsqueda de la banda por hacer cosas nuevas, se queda un poco a medias de la nada, y el disco acaba siendo un poco pesado.

Y es que aunque el trabajo de Cedric es realmente espléndido (lo mejor de todo el disco) y las composiciones muy ricas, los temas no llegan al nivel de perfección que se le exige a Mars Volta, y sobre todo, el hecho de ser temas lentos, largos y más aun cerrando el disco con 2 temas que personalmente considero bastante malos, el disco acaba quedándose en un quiero y no puedo, que con un poco más de maduración podría haber quedado algo bastante redondo.

Lo cual no quita para que encontremos cosas tan brillantes como la preciosa Since We’ve Been Wrong, Teflon o With Twilight As My Guide. Un disco que sin duda a principios de año era un firme candidato a ser de nuevo uno de los mejores discos, pero que sin embargo, y pese a ser un muy buen disco, se ha quedado en una pequeña decepción.

01. Since We’ve Been Wrong
02. Teflon
03. Halo Of Nembutals
04. With Twilight As My Guide
05. Cotopaxi
06. Desperate Graves
07. Copernicus
08. Luciforms

Descargar: THE MARS VOLTA – OCTAHEDRON

Folk, soul, blues, psicodelia, rock, indie e tudo de bom que você imaginar, é foda!

Faixas do álbum:

1. People Say

2. Work All Day

3. Lovers in Love

4. The Sun

5. The Home

6. The Woods

7. Guns & Dogs

8. Do You

9. Everyone Is Golden

10. Let You Down

11. Mornings

LINK – The Satanic Satanist

Parece com? The Sound of Animals Fighting, The Mars Volta, The Fall of Troy.

Clipe da música Do You.

Enjoy o/

Here is our recently completed “One Sheet”!  Let us know what you think of it, and please remember that this is tongue-in-cheek! haha

Await Rescue One Sheet

“Hold the Ground, the much-anticipated follow up to Await Rescue’s 2008 self-titled full-length, is the Napoleon of new releases – short, yet powerful and hell-bent on conquering the ears of those who allow it to invade their ipod playlists. This EP caps off a year’s worth of successful shows in the New England area, spanning from their sold-out album release show at Bill’s Bar in the shadows of Fenway Park in 2008 to the band’s first Boston-to-Miami-and-back East Coast tour in August of 2009.

The Hold the Ground EP was unveiled to yet another sold-out room at the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge, MA on August 7, 2009, and it very notably marks a step in a new direction and a whole new journey through the depths of Rock n Roll for Await Rescue. The new EP is a stylistic foray into genres made famous by the likes of Incubus and Foo Fighters, a noticeable departure from the band’s more prog-rock oriented self-titled release. Await Rescue is, however, bringing along a few pieces of their roots for the ride; Hold the Ground features a refreshed and revamped incarnation of “Alright”, a fan favorite and crowd pleaser released originally on their self-titled album in 2008. Featuring fuller, more powerful, hard hitting choruses and bridges, the latest version also features Seattle native and Berklee graduate, Jacob Yackshaw, on bass. Trained in jazz and having been a part of numerous bands on both coasts, Jake brings new life to the rhythm section that elevates Await Rescue’s musical creations to new heights. Songs such as “Clipped Wings” and “Hold the Ground” serve as reminders to listeners of what has been fundamentally missing from Rock n Roll music today: Rock. 

Moving city by city and state by state, the boys plan to spread the fire that is Await Rescue via their purely enthralling live shows. And, like Napoleon returning from exile on the island of Elba to reclaim his empire, they refuse to be denied, because for Await Rescue, it is all about principle. It is about holding true to their vision of what good music is despite the current trends in the industry that seem to be killing Rock n roll. Make the best music possible and believe that people want to hear it. The people have responded …


“This hard rock quintet from our very own Boston blew me away. From start to finish they dove through some of the most innovative experimental music I have heard coming out of the local scene … the entire set was full of well-executed complex song writing, powerful energy, and great stage presence. There was no weak link to be found…” – Nick Grieco, Playground Boston”

”Mars volta spiller den 28 okt. i Store Vega.

Energisk psykedelisk tangorock, en forsanger der ligner én stor mexicansk hårbolle på coke, og mystiske semireligiøse tekster.

Mars Volta er aktuelle med albummet XXXXX, og giver 2 eksklusive skandinaviske koncerter, der blandt andet bringer dem til København.

I’m a fan-boy.

Best Volta video I’ve ever seen, Cedric sounds impeccable.

Most ridiculous Volta video I’ve ever seen

GET ME FRANCES THE MUTE OR DE-LOUSED IN THE COMATORIUM+TREMULANT EP ON VINYL!!

[image by Joan without permission, http://j-o-a-n.deviantart.com/]