It’s Just A Click Away

“Gimme Shelter” in 9 selectable parts. All the parts of this have been on youtube, but being able to on/off different parts together makes all the difference. Try just both drums, bass and vox 2; the essence made real.

2011 So Far (Metal Edition, Part 2)

Korpiklaani – Ukon Wacka

I once called these guys a Finnish metal Pogues. For me, that’s a high compliment. They’ve been cranking out albums on close to a yearly basis and they’ve always been solid and enjoyable, even if they all sounded basically the same. So, I’ve been happy only owning one of their albums. This years model is a bit of a change up – more aggressive, more Finnish, more finished. Ukon Wacka is prime party music for that stage when you can’t speak or understand your mother tongue so everything might as well be in a foreign tongue.

Primordial – Redemption at the Puritan’s Hand

If it isn’t my favorite album of the year when all is said and done, it’s only because the next one on this list overtakes it once the cold returns. This record opens up their sound to both space and more classic metal influences (there are some achingly beautiful harmonic guitar runs that immediately bring to mind Judas Priest (or countrymen Thin Lizzy), for example). Alan Averill’s progression as a vocalist continues, with both more guttural power and stronger, more assured stabs at actual melodic singing. The songs are all mini-epics about death. Metal.

Subrosa – No Help For the Mighty Ones

This is doom as idea instead of form. Subrosa’s female vocals and electric violins help them stand out immediately, and they come at their heaviness more from Swans than Sabbath. This isn’t blues, but more like the heaviest folk music going (which is punctuated by their version of folk ballad “House Carpenter”, a cappella and out of time); sadness but not regret. I can’t describe how this all comes together – listen to the opener, “Borrowed Time, Borrowed Eyes” for yourself. Absolute stunner that has only grown with each listen.

Turisas – Stand Up and Fight

The prior two records on this list have impressed me with their artistic strengths and seriousness; Turisas impresses me with their artistic strengths and utter lack of seriousness. This is overblown to the extent it often seems like a musical; I expect painted backdrops and awkward dancing. It is the lack of seriousness in their sound but utter commitment to it that I find so appealing; if you’re going to go over the top, do so with gusto. This band has all the gusto in the world.

 Wight – Wight Weedy Wight

I’m a sucker for heavy psychedelic stoner rock. Not that it compliments my lifestyle, but I just love lots of echo and panning and low thundering grooves. These guys are German, like so much great heavy psychedelia these days.

Witch Mountain – South of Salem

I would love this band even if a dear friend wasn’t the drummer; that he is just means I’m prouder to wear the shirt with their awesome logo on it (I don’t pimp for just anyone, you know). This is heavy classic doom, and, most importantly, it swings. I knew it would, for Nate and I had a long talk about the pocket and it’s importance, and how so much metal has moved away having a bottom anchor. Nate’s drumming and Dave’s bass are a strong anchor, but this anchor has plenty of chain for Uta’s vocals to soar without breaking away, and for Rob’s guitar lines to growl and claw their way to the surface. An amazing debut for this line-up, and I can’t wait for more.

Wolf – Legions of Bastards

Retro metal is my thing this year, and Wolf take the heart of 80s metal in their slavering jaws, still beating and spurting bloody spandex and galloping guitars all over the arena. Yes, that (hopefully) will be the worst mess of a sentence you read today. Wolf will not be the worst thing you hear, however, for this record is astoundingly good. Oh, did I forgot to mention they’re Swedish? Of course they are. Mercyful Priest, I love this stuff. Check out this fan made vid for “Road To Hell” - it’s perfect.

2011 So Far (Metal Edition, Part 1)

Across Tundras – Sage

I’m happy these guys have a label behind them and the opportunity to grow their audience with better distribution and bigger tours. I think this is a safe record, a solidifying of the sound they created on last year’s Old World Wanderer. I can’t imagine putting this on before that record, but that says more about the quality of Wanderer than something lacking with Sage. It’s a fine introduction to their heavy western sound.

Argus – Boldly Stride The Doomed

I was just introduced to this album in the past week, but I feel strongly that it is one of the best traditional metal albums I’ve heard in a year full of them. There’s more than a bit of Maiden in their sound, with galloping rhythms and a busy bass mixed too far forward. But they have their own thing and don’t come across as imitators.

Black Spiders – Sons Of The North

Working on the anthemic hard rock end of the metal spectrum, Black Spiders write songs about drinking, fighting, fucking and Kiss. Big riffs, ripped jeans, sing along choruses and probable stds included.

Blood Ceremony – Living With The Ancients

Did you ever want to hear a female fronted Jethro Tull cover Black Sabbath? You should. Blood Ceremony’s second full length doesn’t ape the aforementioned bands, but sounds like a long lost contemporary. If you told me this was from 1971 I would nod in agreement; from production to instrumentation to cheesy witchcraft culled from the pages of Man, Myth & Magic it screams 70s Britain. Love it.

Bullet – Highway Pirates

If you wanted more from the idea of mixing Accept with AC/DC than the song “I’m A Rebel” (performed by the former, written by one of the elder Young brothers for AC/DC but never released), go get this record. The teutonic stomp and edge of classic Accept with the swing and swagger of AC/DC, and the singer even sounds like the middle point between Udo and Brian Johnson. These Swedes do rocking right.

Cauldron – Burning Fortune

Not to be left out of the retro metal goodness, these Canadians won me over when I found out they had recorded a cover of Black ‘N Blue’s “Chains Around Heaven” for their debut. I enjoy this record today, but would have been nuts for it in the mid-80s. For the best glimpse into the band and their mentality, please read Adrien Begrand’s excellent interview posted at Popmatters.

Grayceon – All We Destroy

I’m a sucker for cellos in metal. This trio of guitar, cello and drums don’t sound like anyone else. They mix folk, doom and black metal moments together with mostly clean,  but occasionally blackened, female vocals to create moods as much as songs. Not that there aren’t memorable passages, or lyrics that don’t catch and hold, but there is a feeling to their work that I can’t pin down. If any of that sounds intriguing, or if you just want to know what the hell I’m describing so poorly, check out “Shellmounds” on youtube.

In Solitude – The World, The Flesh, The Devil

More retro goodness, again from Sweden. This time, the main influence is the great Danes, Mercyful Fate. With King Diamond recovering from serious heart surgery, it’s great to have bands paying homage to that classic sound while not being a tribute band. Another group taking Fate into their own hands is Portrait, whom I like but not as much as In Solitude.

2011 So Far (Non-Metal Edition)

Death Grips – Exmilitary 

Absolute stunner which I can’t even begin to capture in words. Watch some videos and get yourself a free copy at thirdworlds.net.

The Feelies – Here Before

They’re back and as good as ever. Not a novelty or cash in like so many reunions, it is a fitting addition to their catalog. A most unexpected surprise.

Lykke Li -  Wounded Rhymes

A more mature sound from a more mature artist. Big step. I need to play this more, because I do enjoy it every time it’s on.

Metal Mountains – Golden Trees

My friend Marc captured this perfectly in the close of his review for Pitchfork:

“In fact, you might find Golden Trees too consistent. Without percussion to emphasize pace, each tune has a similar, indefinite tempo. Time gets lost, and tracks drift and hang rather than moving forward. As the tracks melt together, you might swear the guitar part or vocal line you’re hearing has happened before. But for me, such recurrences are what give Golden Trees its peculiar magic. Its cycling sounds and moods feel less like repetitions than dreamy déjà vu.”

Moon Duo – Mazes

Did you ever wonder what would happen if The Clean collaborated with Suicide? If so, give this a listen.

The Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck

John, Jon and Peter keep getting better. Though I wasn’t hit as hard by this album as I was by The Life Of The World To Come, it has grown on me over the months. Like the prior record, the production blows me away. Perfectly written, mixed, and balanced to engage and surprise. Take “The Autopsy Garland”, with it’s booming distant kick, like “The Boxer” on a stereo in another room. John’s voice and guitar are forward leaning momentum, while the bass steps up to the fore every 10 seconds or so with a little growling menace. And the short, high, acoustic guitar run  that comes in before the chorus around the 1:10 mark gives me shivers then and with each subsequent appearance. Wonderful.

The Psychic Paramount – II

Another record Marc shined a light on for me to find. Expansive, engaging, energetic, and other e-djectives (effervescent, enlightening, esoteric, Erik’s effluvia?), this is an experience as much as an album. Dense but moving at a breakneck pace, their style of instrumental rock sends me reeling.

Albums I like and need to spend more time with to properly gauge:

Wye Oak – Civilian

Woods – Sun and Shade

Six Organs of Admittance – Asleep on the Floodplain

Psychedelic Horseshit – Laced

Peter Murphy – Ninth

Low – C’Mon

Lamb – 5

Girls Names – Dead To Me

Ethereal – Abstractica

Alela Diane – Alela Diane & Wind Divine

Austra – Feel It Break

April 10 Music Diary

The big finish is more of a whimper. Day was filled with phone calls, motor racing and footie; I only got to hear one album while I was doing some chores.

Hawkwind – On Sundown bootleg

I love me some vintage space rock. Many days, I think Hawkwind from 70-74 is the greatest band to ever walk the Earth, or at least hover a few inches above the surface. This recording is from December 30, 1972 at Brixton Sundown; arguably, the peak of their not inconsiderate power (some of these performances were cleaned up and used on Space Ritual). Check out this intersteller setlist: “Electronic #1″, “Orgone Accumulator”, “Upside Down”, “Sonic Attack”, “Time We Left This World Today”, “10 Seconds Of Forever”, “Brainstorm”, “Seven By Seven”, “Master Of The Universe”, and “Welcome To The Universe”.

I just did some research on the web and it appears this is a boot of an actual release – Space Ritual Sundown, Vol. 2. With such a mess of discography I’m not surprised I missed this in the clutter, detritus, flotsam & jetsam of Hawklore. I know what I’ll be ordering from my local shop tomorrow. This show is awesome.

April 9 Music Diary

This morning, I listened to an artist my friend Todd pipped me to – Doctor P. I don’t know anything else but the name and song titles, and that it is commonly referred to as dubstep. I think all the tracks are from the last few years:

Doctor P – Assorted Songs

Doctor P – “Sweet Shop” *I didn’t like this and was worried about the others. It was a false alarm.*

Doctor P & Flux Pavillion – “Stinkfinger”

Doctor P – “Neon”

Doctor P – Rasputin’s Gold”

Doctor P – “Gargoyle”

Doctor P – “Black Books”

I wasn’t feeling great, so after doing the bare modicum of chores I settled in with a book and something a little less beat driven.

Popul Vuh – Aguirre soundtrack

Popol Vuh – “Aguirre I”

Popol Vuh – “Morgengruss II”

Popol Vuh – “Aguirre II”

Popol Vuh – “Agnus Dei”

Popol Vuh – “Vergegenwärtigung”

Popol Vuh – “Aguirre III”

It’s Popol Vuh, it’s a soundtrack to the Herzog film, and it’s tasteful moog and mellotron madness. Sums it up quite nicely.

April 8 Music Diary

Lots of stuff today! Was out and about running errands, so it was time for the ipod and the dreaded shuffle. I needed a slow, comfy wakeup this morning, so I chose my playlist of the Simon and Garfunkel catalog with the first three Simon solo records. Here’s how it went, with a few quick comments.

Simon, Simon and Garfunkel: An Itunes Playlist

Paul Simon – “Silent Eyes”

Paul Simon – “Duncan” *one of my favorite songs of all time*

Simon and Garfunkel – “Punky’s Dilemma”

Simon and Garfunkel – “The Sound Of Silence”

Simon and Garfunkel – “Fakin’ It”

Simon and Garfunkel – “The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine”

Simon and Garfunkel – “Keep The Customer Satisfied”

Simon and Garfunkel – “Cecelia”

Simon and Garfunkel – “A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara’d Into Submission)”

Paul Simon – “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” *all about Steve Gadd’s drums. amazing*

Paul Simon – “You’re Kind”

Paul Simon – “Have A Good Time”

Simon and Garfunkel – “The 50th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)”

Paul Simon – “Me And Julio Down By The School Yard [Demo]“

Simon and Garfunkel – “Bookends Theme”

Simon and Garfunkel – “Cloudy” *the Association’s “Windy” blows the clouds away*

Simon and Garfunkel – “Mrs. Robinson”

Simon and Garfunkel – “Scarborough Fair/Canticle”

Simon and Garfunkel – “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream”

Paul Simon – “St. Judy’s Comet”

Paul Simon – “Everything Put Together Falls Apart”

Simon and Garfunkel – “For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her”

Simon and Garfunkel – “Sparrow” *kinda loathe this*

Simon and Garfunkel – “Overs”

Simon and Garfunkel – “At The Zoo”

Paul Simon – “Something So Right”

Paul Simon – “Paranoia Blues [Unreleased Version]” *man, the solo records are sooo good*

Simon and Garfunkel – “You Don’t Know Where Your Interest Lies”

Simon and Garfunkel – “Richard Cory”

Paul Simon – “Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard”

Paul Simon – “Learn How To Fail”

Paul Simon – “Slip Slidin’ Away [Demo]” *he’s a dick for not attaching the hit version to an album after all these years. I don’t own it as I refuse to buy a greatest hits for one track*

Simon and Garfunkel – “Song For The Asking”

After lunch I decided I’d had enough folky goodness; with the sun beating down and spring nigh sprung, I  went for the sunny summer majesty of Diamond Dave era Van Halen. Another playlist, another shuffle.

Van Halen (No Hagar The Horrible): An Itunes Playlist

Van Halen – “Could This Be Magic?”

Van Halen – “In A Simple Rhyme”

Van Halen – “Girl Gone Bad”*I can’t decide if they’re aiming for In Through The Out Door Zep or contemporary Rush with this cut. A real outlier in their sound*

Van Halen – “I’ll Wait”

Van Halen – “I’m The One”

Van Halen – “The Full Bug” *Diver Dud‘s highpoints are lower than any other Van Halen record*

Van Halen – “Take Your Whiskey Home” *Women And Children First, on the other hand, is all killer and no filler*

Picked up my wife mid-afternoon and we chatted all the way home. Good day all around.

April 7 Music Diary

I wasn’t fooling anyone with the hopeful Daytime in the title so out it goes.

Various Artists – Sky Sports Premier League Season in Review 1992-93

This morning I decided to start the day with Sky Sports recap of the 1992-93 Premier League season. I’ve become a big footie fan over the past several years but my history of the game is rather pitiful. Sky began broadcasting with this particular season and produced a nice summary with highlights and such. It’s a time capsule of much more than soccer, as big news events are mentioned (Di left Charles, Tyson goes to prison) and there is a music bed of prime cuts from that year and the several that proceeded it. This is some of what I noted:

Simple Minds – “Alive And Kicking” (the theme for the season, repeated a lot)

U2 – “Even Better Than The Real Thing”

Stereo MC’s – “Connected”

Kriss Kross – “Jump”

Blur – “Boys & Girls”

Primal Scream – “Movin’ On Up”

Snap! – “Rhythm Is A Dancer”

The Spin Doctors – “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong”

R.E.M. – “Everybody Hurts (played behind Brian Clough’s retirement and Forest’s relegation)

Monty Python – “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life” (behind a blooper reel)

Beck – “Loser”

This last was a real surprise. Though released on a small label in March of ’93, it didn’t break until re-released by Geffen the following spring. Maybe it hit in the UK on initial release, I don’t know.

Blood Ceremony - Living With Ancients

Had to clear the 90s fug by playing a new album that sounds like it came out in 1972. This just gets better with each spin; the delicious blend of clean heavy riffs, cheesy keyboards, and a female singer who breaks out a flute. Yeah, a flute. They’ve hit on a nice blend of Sabbath and Tull without going fully heavy or fully prog, something they didn’t quite reach on the debut. Check out “Coven Tree”.

Brocas Helm - Defender Of The Crown

More classic sounding modern metal. This is more late 70s/early 80s than Blood Ceremony, and rocks a bit harder. The influence is more Conan and D&D than Hammer horror films. Not the most prolific band, they’ve managed three studio records and a live album in over 25 years of existence. This, their latest, came out in 2004.

Cauldron - Burning Fortune

Today ended up a retro metal extravaganza. I fired this up after lunch, and bathed in the lycra and studded belts of 1983. These Canadiens use the technology of today to sound like music from before they were born (I’m guessing at that; I know they’re young, and barely two albums into a promising career). Once I found out they covered Black ‘N Blue’s “Chains Around Heaven” on their debut I was smitten. Only thing I feel obligated to knock them for is their enunciation on “Tears Have Come”. The singer slurs the words a bit and the chorus really, really sounds like “Tears of cum”.

April 6 Music Diary: Daytime

Still not listening at night; social time with my wife hasn’t included tunes.

Neither did today.

Vendela – “Punk Rock Song”

Started the morning on youtube watching the video for this track. Two people I highly respect pimped this in the overnight hours so I was looking forward to it.

I have no idea what they’re hearing that I’m not; this struck me as weak fake nostalgia lyrics in generic Europop clothes. I hope to never hear this again.

That’s it. A day of minimal music.

 

April 5 Music Diary: The Daytime

I ended up listening to no music last night, but I figure it’s best to leave open the possibility.

Sound Opinions Podcast – Early Dylan and Lykke Li

Threw this on to background breakfast and my first cups of coffee. Almost always worth a listen, if only for the usual head shaking at Dero’s point of view, but this week was a dud. Nothing more needs be said about Dylan’s pre-electric years yet that doesn’t keep these two from following the well-paved roads of others. They both liked the new Lykke Li quite a bit, as do I.

The Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck

My first listen – I picked it up last week but didn’t find myself the right time and mindset to give it a spin. I liked it, and think there are enough high points that I might grow to love it. I’m not sure about the running order; felt it didn’t flow particularly well, and the second track, “Birth Of Serpents”, was the one song that I didn’t care for much at all. High points: the run from “Age of Kings” to “High Hawk Season”, and from “For Charles Bronson” till the end. It ends with an instant classic; “Liza Forever Minnelli”, with Darnielle’s jazzy vocal phrasing, got an immediate replay. I look forward to living with this for a while, but my first impression isn’t as favorable as it was for their last album, The Life Of The World To Come.

Britney Spears – “I Wanna Go”

After I finished with The Mountain Goats around 9:30am, I was reading a thread on ILX that is all about Metal Mike Saunder’s thoughts on the new Britney album. This was embeded in it, so gave it a go. It’s a good song. She makes good pop, for the most part, so I wasn’t exactly surprised.

Lea Anna – “Kisses”

Another youtube from some thread on ILX. Nice pop dancehall, wish it wasn’t autotuned for no good reason.

Twisted Sister – “Under The Blade”

Back to iTunes. I needed a palate cleanser and to get in the mood for another first listen in a more hard rocking vein. I enjoy the first tow Twisted Sister albums a good deal, and “Under The Blade” is one of the great lost early 80s metal songs. Shoulda been huge, but the world wasn’t ready.

Wight – Wight Weedy Wight

Another German stoner metal band. Correction: another great German stoner metal band. Not sure what’s in the beer over there, but it seems year after year another band pops up from the soil of the Rhineland to swirl, bludgeon and groove into my ears. Six songs in 45 minutes of Sabbath-loving heavy metal. I just wish they had a North American distribution deal, but self-released records rarely do. Maybe All That Is Heavy will pick it up down the road.

Peter Wolf - Sleepless

A change of pace and sound after that glorious murk. I somehow slept on Peter Wolf’s move into laid-back country blues rocker (I’m not sure how to peg it; gracefully aging rock?), and this album is all killer and no filler. In the short time I’ve had it I’ve listened to it over and over, in many settings and following some rather diverse artists, and it never disappoints. I always knew he had impecable and eclectic taste but didn’t expect this from him after all this time. Apparently the followup to this 2002 album, last year’s Midnight Souvenirs, is nearly it’s equal. Guess I got to hear that one, too.