Friday, April 18, 2008
There's so much stuff to mention, I hope I can remember everything! Where to begin...
I might as well start with the newest stuff, that being my April column. I'd always wanted to interview John Darnielle, not so much about The Mountain Goats, but the subject of metal music, of which he is a gigantic fan. When it was announced a year ago that he'd not only be writing about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality for Continuum's 33 1/3 series, but would be doing so in the form of a short novel, I couldn't wait to see how it turned out. After all, the dude's an enormously talented writer, and true enough, Master of Reality is a tremendous book. It's a smart critical analysis told through the voice of his teenaged protagonist, but even more impressively, it's as affecting and perceptive a depiction of teen metalheads in the mid-80s that I have ever seen. Anyway, the release of the book was perfectly timed for my April column, as I needed a good idea, so I thought, why not? And Darnielle's responses turned out to be even better than I'd expected, which made for an excellent, excellent piece, I think. I've always been fascinated by the weird relationship between indie and metal audiences (both seem to be especially wary of each other, yet their insularity is so oddly similar), and it was fun to ask questions about that. So give it a read, go buy the book, and if you don't have the Master of Reality album, be ashamed of yourself and go buy it at once.
Also appearing early this week was my review of the new In Flames album. It's weird how the band's discography from the 1990s is so revered, yet I can't help but love their post-2000 output more, as they've learned to utilize melodies far better than the decade prior, best exemplified by Reroute to Remain and Come Clarity. Most of A Sense of Purpose stays the course, content with remaining in the niche the band has created for themselves. Which is good and all, the songs are all solid, but overall, it feels a little safe. Thankfully, late in the album there's "The Chosen Pessimist", an eight-minute mood piece that really has the band testing just how far into melodic territory they can go. It's an unusual track, but one that has grown on me tremendously over the past couple months. So while it won't exactly place prominently on my year-end list, I still heartily approve of the album. Well worth buying, especially if it's on sale. Oh, and if you check out the new issue of Metal Edge at the nearest newsstand, you'll see my big piece on the band, featuring an interview with singer Anders Friden. That was a pleasant conversation, and I think the piece turned out well. It's just a shame it's not posted on the internet! But you can spare five bucks for the mag, right? Or at least a courtesy flip-through...
It's amazing that it's been nearly three years since I've seen Dan Snaith and Caribou live. He's here all the time it seems, but I'd missed his last two shows, and considering how I hadn't seen how the Andorra material translates live, and how Caribou is one of the best live bands around, I couldn't let myself squander another opportunity to see the band. So I was lucky to find out Amigos still has a few tickets left that afternoon.
When I saw Caribou, then known as Manitoba, for the first time in June of 2004, it was an exuberant yet cautious performance, the four piece band playing over sequenced tracks, and when the 45 minutes was over, Snaith was almost apologetic, saying they couldn't play any longer because they didn't know any more songs. Nearly a year and a half later, the band had greatly improved, bringing in more improvisation and organic instrumentation. However, nothing had prepared me for the transformation the band has undergone in 2008. It was astonishing...not only was the band now recreating the album tracks from the ground up, including Snaith singing full-time, but they were doing an amazing job of it. Snaith especially has come a long way, and it's clear the relentless touring has made him a much more confident musician and singer onstage. The band sounded phenomenal, and the place (which, no surprise, was sold out) was absolutely jumping. it was good to hear the old Up in Flames standards, and Andorra's "Melody Day" has been transformed into a terrific rock tune (I'd really like to hear a live recorded session performance of this song), but "Hello Hammerheads" was a bit too mellow, the crowd chatter growing as folks started to crave the bursts of dual drums, which the epic "Every Time She Turns Round It's Her Birthday" delivered in spades. Nice to hear "Bees" too, which is probably my favourite Caribou track...the projected, moving highway lines to accentuate the whole motorik influence was a cool touch. The visuals overall were especially cool, not as low-budget as the last time I saw the band. A tremendous set overall...and loud! Which I was expecting; if I hadn't stayed outside a 20-foot radius, I would have been as deafened as I was after the Black Mountain show a few weeks ago.
Caribou's opening band Fuck Buttons was also one of the more interesting, not to mention goofily-named acts I've seen in a while. I first heard of them right around when the tour was announced, around January, when folks started talking about how this band with the stupid name was actually pretty darn good, the single "Bright Tomorrow" steadily building strong word of mouth as the months went by. I too was intrigued by the song's slyly incessant hook, not to mention the duo's tendency toward all-out noise rock, and when I got to Amigos midway through their set, the energy in the room was nuts, as Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power had steadily built up a massive wall of sound and thrumming beats, "Bright Tomorrow" sounding much more aggressive and incessant than on record. It was enough to convince me to pick up a copy of the recently-released Street Horrrsing album, which I'm really enjoying. Again, it's not as immediately gripping as hearing them live, but the album's subtlety turns out to be its great strength. I bet it's going to turn out to be one of the year's bigger growers.
And speaking of good albums, the new Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds CD is outstanding, feeling like a logical extension of the terrific Grinderman album. "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" is already one of the year's best singles, but the hilarious "We Call Upon the Author" ("Bukowski was a jerk! Berryman was best!/He wrote like wet papier mache, went the Heming-way weirdly on wings and with maximum pain/We call upon the author to explain!") and the gorgeous Velvet Underground homage "More News From Nowhere" just might be even better. Definitely one of the year's best.
2008 is really shaping up to be a good year for concerts around these parts...not so much the local club scene, as the indie places are unusually slow and metal shows have virtually abandoned this city, but the arena gigs are more than making up for it. First Gigantour on Mother's Day, then Rush two weeks later, then Iron Maiden two weeks after that. Then in late July, Judas Priest and Testament are coming to Saskatoon. And if that wasn't enough, my beloved Drive-By Truckers are FINALLY touring Western Canada, stopping in Edmonton on June 29, which I have every intention of attending. If I can get out to see Oasis in August, it'll be the nuttiest summer of big concerts ever.
But when it comes to real, extreme craziness, nothing will compare to my big trip in seven days, which I hope to blog from on the new laptop. Won't spill the beans just yet (what am I talking about? I've told everybody), but it's a trip eerily similar to Almost Famous (right down to Swingos), but involving Vikings. Lots and lots of Vikings.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Finally, some new writing to plug! S'about time, right?
In the May issue of Decibel (the one with the photo of Alexi Laiho after drinking too much cherry Kool-Aid), four of my five pieces are up on the website. Back in February I talked to Aidan Baker of Toronto ambient drone outfit Nadja about their insane prodigiousness, especially in the wake of the release of new discs like this one and this one. He's a really polite guy, but as I mention in the piece, he's the ultimate quiet talker, and I had a heckuva time transcribing the interview. But the whole thing turned out alright, I think.
Over in the reviews section, the biggie this month is the new disc by tech-death metalers Arsis. I'd come to like the band a lot over the last few years, and We Are the Nightmare offers an interesting twist on their intricate sound, placing a little more emphasis on catchy, thrash-inspired riffs more than ever before. I think it works rather well. Wrath of the Weak is a one-man black metal project from Buffalo, Jordan Buck following the example of Burzum (musically, not all that other stuff), creating moody, subtly melodic melodies that lurk underneath its chilly exterior. And I'm not exaggerating in the review, just before I wrote it I'd been walking in an absolutely brutal winter storm, so listening to Alogon as I tried to warm back up was somehow fitting. Lastly, there's my piece on the recent CD by Legion of the Damned, a cool Dutch thrash band that thought it would be a neat idea to re-release an old album...only the final product turned into something much more complicated than it really had to be, as I explain in the review. It's a killer album, though, a healthy dose of first-rate Euro thrash metal.
The one Decibel piece that's missing is my news bit on Mike Patton and his involvement with the soundtrack to the short film A Perfect Place. I did that the day before I left for Norway, which was a little tight time-wise, but it was such great fun talking to Patton, who to nobody's surprise is an extremely interesting guy. The work he did on the soundtrack is some of his best stuff in years, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the film, which comes in DVD form along with the terrific score. It's as good a two-fer-one deal as you'll ever get, so keep your eyes peeled for it. So you'll have to take a peek at the new Decibel if you want to see the actual article. And you know you do.
Over at PopMatters, my review of the new album by The Sword is up today. Back when I first got the early advance copy of the CD, January I think, I loved it. And really, how could I not? After all, the band, while still hugely indebted to old-school doom metal, had added cool little twists into the mix, like flashy riffs reminiscent of 80s thrash and early-80s NWOBHM. But a funny thing happened since then. I heard the excellent new album by Swedish doom traditionalists Isole. I heard the great new record by Gates of Slumber. I saw an incredible set by Sahg in Oslo, and was blown away by their new album soon after. So what do those three bands bring to the doomy table that the Sword doesn't? Quality vocals. Sahg boasts a tremendous lead singer who howls away in a soaring tenor, Isole's singer is a bit more rugged-sounding, but his melodies are exceptional, and while Gates of Slumber isn't quite in that same league vocally, they still retain the same kind of unassuming catchiness that St. Vitus, Place of Skulls, The Hidden Hand, etc. all bring. On Gods of the Earth, though, singer JD Cronise doesn't hold up his end of the bargain. His singing was never great, but was passable on Age of Winters, but while the instrumental tracks sound fantastic, his vocal melodies just go through the motions, and what we can hear fo them are buried deep in the mix. I know this band is completely sincere in its intentions of bringing great, classic metal, but the way Cronise sounds so detached and lazy will have some accusing the band of being "hipster" or "false metal". It's not a bad album at all, but in more skilled hands, it could have been great.
And speaking of great singers, John Garcia has returned with his post-Kyuss project Hermano, whose new album I recently reviewed. Unlike Josh Homme, whose Queens of the Stone Age has gone on to carve out its own post-Kyuss niche, Garcia seems content to stick to what he does strongest, churning out good desert rock. His band does try to broaden its musical palette by going acoustic on several occasions, but the most fun is had on rockers like "Kentucky", "Exam Room", and the contagious "Adoption Boy".
Ever hear of Muxtape? No? Well, if you're unfamiliar, everyone is making Muxtapes these days, posting mp3s on their own page, which streams up to twelve tracks like a quick mixtape. A great idea, but we all know it's going to be shut down soon enough by the copyright police. But for now, I suggest you give a listen to my own Muxtape...the whole theme of the thing is new Scandinavian music, partially inspired by my Norway trip, and partially by my predilection towards Scandinavian pop. Turned out to be a good, solid, diverse mix, I think. So listen and enjoy!
PopMatters recently did a neat thing, finally sorting its archives by writer. So after years of waiting, nearly all my articles and reviews for the site (and there are hundreds), are finally on one single page. So that means you can track my evolution from overly-hyperbolic writer to slightly less hyperbolic writer much more conveniently than in the past. Seriously, though, there are some titles and pieces I hadn't thought of in years. I don't dare click on the Andrew WK review, I know I missed the boat completely on that one. And you know what? I still stand by my St. Anger review. For the most part.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
I'm currently in the process of letting my eardrums heal after an insanely loud Black Mountain show on Saturday night. This was one show I'd been looking forward to for months, as had many other people, seeing how it had been sold out well in advance. And for good reason, as it was a particularly rockin' bill, with fellow British Columbians Ladyhawk opening. Ladyhawk actually has a really big following out here, and when I arrived just as their set began, their popularity was more than apparent as the place was already packed and enjoyin' the tunes. Which I find rather odd, because as enjoyable as Ladyhawk is on a blue-collar indie rock level, they're not particularly clever, nor are their songs very catchy. I would have much preferred to hear someone like Bon Iver, who had been opening for Black Mountain up until a couple weeks ago. Although I found it kind of meh, the punters dug them, which was fine. Made for a good atmosphere. But the real draw was the headliner, and it pleased me greatly to see an indie rock band who still cares about visual presentation, as the transparent kick drum logo dealy was backlit with a green light, and coupled with generous poofs of dry ice, made for a cool, not to mention apt atmosphere for the band's stoner/prog/psychedelic jams. And egads, was it loud...the guitar and bass were loud in a low-frequency, comfy, fuzzed-out sort of way, but when the vintage organ and moog synths got going, it was deafening. Especially the blasts of swirly moog space rock bits, they were so overwhelming it somehow disrupted my equilibrium, making it the closest I've ever come to fainting. Still, the set was incredible, as the band ran through many standout tracks from the great In the Future, like "Stormy High", "Queens Will Play", "Stay Free", "Evil Ways", and quite possibly the best songs from the album, "Wucan" and "Tyrants". No 17 minute "Bright Lights" jam, but they did do a long rendition of "Drugonaut", as well as a raucous "No Satisfaction" during the encore, which had the place jumping (including a flail-dancing idiot behind me who knocked over about five beer bottles near my feet). An unusually long set for an indie show, about an hour and a half (which is good to see), and I staggered out of Amigos at two in the morning exhausted, ears ringing, and pretty darn happy.
So why on earth didn't Saskatoon's Credit Union Centre book Iron Maiden instead of the dinky Brandt Centre in Regina, which is less than half the size? All five Western Canadian dates sold out last Friday, including Regina in less than an hour...if Saskatoon had snagged the Saskatchewan date, they would have not only had enough room to accommodate the local Maiden fans, but also those from Alberta and Manitoba who couldn't score tickets. Exceptionally poor foresight...they missed out on a real moneymaker there.
I really, really love the new Lair of the Minotaur album, which I reviewed in my most recent column, but if there's one gripe, it's that they don't go all the way with the visuals. If they came from Finland or somewhere they'd be decked out in leather, furry boots, and warpaint like Turisas instead of looking like a bunch of goofy hipsters. That said, you've got to give them credit for putting together a video that goes unbelievably, gloriously over the top...if you're not turned off by the sight of fanged women chowing down on a gladiator's limbs and entrails, I highly recommend taking a peek at the amazing clip for "War Metal Battle Master". It's something you won't soon forget.
Oh, and woohoo for me, I got a new laptop. Finally. So now I can actually blog from the road, which will definitely come in handy in about three weeks' time...
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Again, sorry for the lack of updates, but the last week was busy, what with Easter visiting and all, first in Edmonton, then back at home.
The new Meshuggah album is incredible, and if you don't like it, then you just don't like the metal. It's like Pig Destroyer last year, the most completely visceral metal disc in a while, where melody is downplayed in favour of out-and-out aggression. As I mentioned a short while back, I talked to drummer Tomas Haake about the album and whatnot for my column, and over the weekend it was published. That was a fun conversation, he's a well-spoken guy, very friendly, and it was cool to talk to him after being such a fan of the band over the past six years (yeah, I'm a little late to the Meshuggah party), especially about the finer details about his craft, the recording of the album, etc. Turned into a good little piece, methinks.
Still on the Swedish front, but from the complete opposite of the myoozical spectrum, is Lykke Li, whose tunes, if you don't know already, have been dominating my year since January. After downloading tracks, watching YouTube clips, seeing her perform a couple times, and buying her debut album in Norway, I was about as primed as anyone to review the CD, so when the opportunity arose, I said, "Why not?" So here you go, my Lykke Li review. It's quite an extraordinary little album, it's pop music, but stubbornly refuses to follow any supposed contemporary pop template. There are synths and electronic beats from time to time, but not only is this a very organic-sounding album, with the emphasis placed on acoustic instrumentation, but the arrangements are much more stark and minimal than you'd ever expect. it's one of those records where you're fully aware of its imperfections (those two spoken word tracks are a bit too much), but you can't help but like the thing in spite of them. So even though I gave it a 7, don't be surprised if it makes my top 20 at the end of the year.
So, the huge news I didn't mention here yet is that Iron Maiden is returning to Saskatchewan for the first time since April 1987...which is actually the first and only time I've seen my all-time favourite band. Tickets have been ordered and everything, but I won't feel comfortable until they arrive. It still seems too good to be true. I was fully prepared to fly somewhere like Montreal or Chicago, too. Well, kudos to the band for living up to their promise of a full Canadian tour that they made in late 2005. Anyway, that means I'll have two massive shows in a matter of a couple weeks, first Rush on May 25th, and then Maiden on June 8th.
Over the last week or ten days there has been a massive uproar among metal fans surrounding the new direction taken by Montreal death metal legends Cryptopsy. First, someone leaked a couple of unfinished tracks, which incited cries of "sellout!", photoshop gags, and vicious YouTube analyses (drat, the clip's been pulled). Then another track debuted on MySpace, and the furor grew louder. In an incredibly short time span, Cryptopsy has gone from heroes to pariahs...the last time I remember a reversal this severe was back on the late-80s when Celtic Frost put out the much-loathed Cold Lake album. I've actually heard The Unspoken King in its entirety, and I have to say that after the first listen, it's not an improvement over the leaked tracks whatsoever. It's one thing to become tired of playing technical death metal all the time, but to sound so lethargic and devoid of passion on disc is a real shame. It's competently performed, but just boring...recycled tuned-down riffs, drab death vocals one minute, drab Mike Patton-style singing the next. It's like the band is torn between sounding like psychotic progsters Unexpect, Mr. Bungle, and your average Victory Records metalcore band, and all the while, the gifted Flo Mounier drums as wildly as ever, trying to add some fancy-schmancy window dressing to one turkey of an album, quickly turning into a pointless exercise. Man, am I ever glad I got to see Cryptopsy when they were great...three years ago seems like an eternity now.
One fun thing about all the Cryptopsy shenanigans has been the reactions of the fans...with that in mind, may I present to you, dear reader, a list of the Top Five Threads From the Official Cryptopsy Forum, circa March 2008:
1. "Are you now too embarrassed to wear a Cryptopsy shirt?"
2. "You guys remember when Cryptopsy was good?"
3. "what 'sellout' albums do you actually like?"
4. "ok, in seriousness, I still have hope for the album"
5. "Optimism always fails"
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Whenever you read a critical assessment of Killing Joke, their debut, is always cited as their most essential work. While it's impossible to dispute the importance of Killing Joke, whose icy, abrasive tribal stomp had a major influence on everyone from Ministry to Nirvana to Metallica to Steve Albini, the primal, cathartic side of Killing Joke doesn't quite have the depth of their mid-80s work in my opinion. During this period they were able to broaden their sound while remaining true to the band's core sound, immediacy meshing with contemplation, rage colliding with gentle melodies, metallic post punk converging with dance and new wave. While Fire Dances was a very well-executed transition record, its follow-up Night Time marked the fruition of Killing Joke's musical growth. The previous album had a somewhat thin sound, but this sucker, recorded in Berlin when Berlin couldn't be any more grim and depressing, sounds ferocious. In fact, it feels like there's a constant give and take on this album between the cold paranoia of Eastern Europe and the flamboyant, outgoing style of the West...the songs are relentlessly catchy, but ruthlessly aggressive at the same time. Its dance influence is glaringly obvious, but this is the kind of dance music that would befit the a party on the eve of the Apocalypse. And the band is simply on fire on this record: Jaz Coleman's singing voice has never sounded better, Paul Raven's bass tones sound rich, Big Paul Ferguson's usual precise, furious drumming is complemented with stuttering electronic drum beats, and Geordie Walker's guitar work, again, is incredible, opting for a much tighter, anxious feel, his his sawing chords slashing away viciously, only to be followed by gorgeous arpeggios. "Night Time" is both celebratory and ominous, Geordie's guitar right up front in the mix, while the arrangement on "Darkness Before Dawn" suits the title, going for a more murky mood during the verses, only to explode with an unrelenting chorus that's so effective, no lead vocals are needed. The upbeat "Kings and Queens" (led by a slithering lead riff by Geordie) gives way to the disturbing "Tabazan", with it's jarring, discordant central riff, while the album ends on a nervous note, first with the condemnation of "Europe" and then the brilliant, perceptive "Eighties" (whose main riff was blatantly stolen by Mr. Cobain on "Come As You Are" (something he eventually admitted).
The album's defining moment, however, is the beautiful "Love Like Blood". An absolutely perfect encapsulation of the sound the band was so clearly going for at the time, dance-infused with a gloomy atmosphere (aided greatly by Coleman's subtle synth notes and piano stabs in the background), Geordie's guitar mirrors Raven's stuttering bassline during the verses, only to launch into spectacular bursts of spacious chords during the choruses. It's Coleman who dominates the track, though...he's always been a good lyricist, but this song represents his best work, impassioned, primal, and tender at the same time:
We must play our lives like soldiers in the field
But life is short I'm running faster all the time
Strength and beauty destined to decay
So cut the rose in full bloom
'Til the fearless come and the act is done
A love like blood, a love like blood
Punk, goth, new wave, dance, pop..."Love Like Blood" covers all that ground and to this day it remains Killing Joke's single greatest moment, their defining moment, their signature song. One of the best songs of the 1980s, it's a track I can listen to over and over again.
Anyway, like Fire Dances, the bonus tracks on Night Time are stellar, ranging from cool remixes of Kings and Queens" and "Love Like Blood", a terrific track I'd never heard before in "Blue Feather", and four tracks performed for a BBC Radio session in 1984. Among a few other songs. Overall, another splendid reissue of an essential 80s classic. Highly, highly recommended! On to Brighter Than a Thousand Suns tomorrow...
Friday, March 14, 2008
The last week has been busy, putting together my big March column as well as about a dozen pieces together for Decibel and Metal Edge, but things have finally slowed down enough for me to spend an hour or two updating this page.
First of all, if you like the metal and do not yet own a copy of the new Meshuggah album, what the heck are you waiting for? Go out this instant and pick it up! We're only three months into the new year, but I can already tell this will be very high on my year-end ballot for Decibel and my overall list as well. Three eyars ago I found Catch Thirtythree to be a bit of a disappointment, and I still feel the same today. Many people griped about the use of programmed drums, but while that wasn't really the biggest problem with that album (its meandering nature and tepid mix sticking in my craw more than anything else), we all knew the band is much better off with Tomas Haake behind the kit. He's the best drummer in metal today, and if you needed any more proof, just listen to obZen, which he completely dominates. I never like using the adjective "sick" while describing music, but I'm sorry, hearing his intricate double kick beats on "Bleed", there's no other word for it. It's absolutely sick. And when was the last time we heard Meshuggah go all-out thrash for a full song? "Combustion" is an astonishing album opener, built around a Tool-inspired riff that Hakke pounds into submission. It's interesting how it's the first Meshuggah disc in many years (or perhaps ever) to not try anything particularly polarizing or bold...they just play to their strengths, incorporate styles spanning their entire career, and hammer out the music. Not so much groundbreaking, but extremely refined. Everything is spot-on, the production as perfect as I've ever heard. Though the big stylistic difference between this one and Catch 33 and Nothing is that the rhythm riffs are far less melodic, focusing more on the physicality of the sound. Anyway, my upcoming column is all about the album, as I had a very enjoyable conversation with Haake about his drumming and the record itself. Watch for it!
The number of CD arrivals this year has been truly nuts, and when I'm so busy reviewing albums and doing interviews, it's hard to find the time to give everything the kind of attention they need. But every so often I get something that makes me drop everything I'm doing...like the other day, when the newest crop of Killing Joke reissues appeared in the mail. While people tend to dwell on the band's seminal first two albums, their mid-90s industrial/alt-rock stuff, and their recent, heavier output, my own favourite period is probably the mid-1980s, where they achieved an often incredible balance between their trademark tribal rhythms and slashing guitar sounds with a brash pop sensibility. They were always cutting edge, but the way their songwriting improved by employing more accessible hooks was downright subversive. 1983's Fire Dances is a terrific example. After a bit of band upheaval, from Jaz Coleman's exile in Iceland (in anticipation of the apocalypse, apparently), to bassist Youth's departure and the inclusion of new guy Paul Raven, they quickly regrouped to record a fourth album, and it turned out to be one of their best. Raven's addition helped a great deal, his basslines often infused with a cool dub influence (just listen to "Dominator" and "Lust Almighty"), but this album still revolves around the constant beats of Big Paul Ferguson, the maniacal rants of Coleman, and especially the band's strongest weapon, the inimitable guitar style of Geordie Walker. If I had heard this album 25 years ago, I would have hated Geordie's rather tinny tone (I wanted guitars to sound HUGE, like any teenaged metalhead at the time), but today I just marvel at his sound on this album. It has a chiming, mellifluous quality to it, yet it still slashes viciously like only Geordie can do, the best example being the best song on the entire album, the dastardly pop-oriented "Let's All Go (To the Fire Dances)", which is dominated by his simple yet amazing descending riff (and dig that breakdown two minutes in!). The bonus tracks are cool, too, including a bunch of Peel Session tracks and the terrific "Me or You"/"Wilful Days" single...just an exceptionally solid package from start to finish. As I move on to the great 1985 album Night Time, here's a great clip of Killing joke in their prime, performing "Dominator" on British TV in 1983, with Jaz looking particularly kvlt...
And speaking of kvlt, KFC here in Canada is running a black metal-themed ad campaign that's generating some attention on the internet. While some think it's a cheap shot at black metal, not to mention the fact that the song the band ("Hellvetica"...hee hee) is playing bears no resemblance to black metal at all, I think the ad, especially the singer whose corpsepaint is not unlike that of Shagrath's, is hilarious.
And if you thought Garfield Minus Garfield was clever, take a peek at this interpretation of Pulp's classic (and my all-time fave) "Common People" though Archie comics. Better yet, load up the song, and follow along.
When I went to Norway I picked up a bunch of CDs I can't get over here, but while I knew what to expect with nearly every one I got, one blind purchase is turning into probably my favourite album of the bunch. When I got to Oslo, the one artist people kept mentioning was a Swedish dude going by the moniker Familjen, who specializes in electro-pop sung entirely in an obscure Swedish dialect. He'd done a live set the night before I arrived, and apparently it went over really well, and I soon learned his 2007 album Det Snurrar I Min Skalle (the literal translation appears to be "the whirl in my skull") was actually a pretty big seller in Scandinavia. In fact the CD was in the discount section of Platekompaniet at a decent enough price, so I decided why not, and bought it. I didn't know just how contagious this album would turn out to be. After two blissful listens, one that night in my hotel room and another a few days later when I got back home, the title track was already so ingrained in my mind that I wound up dreaming about the song, waking up with it going nonstop in my head. I rarely dream about music (the last time was probably Portishead's "All Mine", which had a similarly profound effect on me ten years ago), and never after just two listens, but that really underscored just how enjoyable this album really is. It's not innovative (think an extremely sunny, incomprehensible version of The Knife), but its tones are so warm, the melodies so catchy, that I can't stop playing the thing. It originally came out last summer, but my info at By:Larm said that the album is going to see a worldwide release in 2008, and if that's the case, I just might have to use that as a loophole to put it on my year-end list. It's that good, but if you need more convincing, try out the brilliant videos for "Det Snurrar I Min Skalle" and "Huvudet I Sanden".
Thursday, March 6, 2008
I've archived my January-February entries, so my Norway recap is here, if you feel inclined to give it a peek.
On to the new stuff. Decibel's site has been updated for March, and there's quite a pile of writing I have to plug. I have a little feature bit on SoCal thrash revivalists Warbringer, whose debut album (and previous EP for that matter) is a hugely enjoyable dose of old school West Coast metal. They're not just scene-hoppers, they have a genuine love for classic thrash metal, and it made for a good little piece. I only wish I was able to make it down to Regina last month where they were opening for Exodus...they've been winning people over with their energetic live show, and it would have been cool to see it firsthand.
As for reviews, there are a bunch of good albums this months. The new Death Angel CD is not only a good one, but I think it's their best album to date. The guys haven't lost a step, and in fact they've never sounded as focused as they do here, a good blend of thrash and more streamlined, melodic fare. Highly recommended!
It was neat writing about the new Diamanda Galas double album...it's not metal, but it sure is extreme, her collection of live covers often chilling. Nobody approaches the blues quite like Ms. Galas, and Guilty, Guilty, Guilty is awesome. Jarboe, who I wrote about last month, is hugely influenced by Galas, and her J2 collaboration with Jesu's Justin Broadrick works surprisingly well, combining her own idiosyncratic, keyboard-based compositions with Broadrick's unique touch. Heaven Shall Burn, on the other hand, is a good, straightforward German metalcore band I've liked for a while now, and their new one doesn't disappoint. Their lyrical themes are always very interesting, and I really like what they've done on Iconoclast, providing detailed background information in the form of a cool Flash presentation on the enhanced CD. Classy touch. Lastly, there's Japanese death metal band Infected Malignity, whose new EP is a nice progression from their rather ordinary previous album. Yet another quality release from Quebec label Galy Records.
And because I can't stop raving about Lykke Li, and because I forgot to link to it before I left a couple weeks ago, here's her bathroom performance of "I'm Good, I'm Gone" that's been winning so many people over, including yours truly.
I knew absolutely nothing about Illinois indie band Headlights prior to getting their new album last week, but Some Racing, Some Stopping has come out of nowhere to become one of my recent favourites. Nothing much to the music, just simple, classy indie pop sung by a guy and a girl. Catchy without sounding cloying, sincere without coming across as overbearing, light but not overtly twee. If you like the Shins but wound up sort of sick of them thanks to that annoying Braff guy, you're going to love this. "Cherry Tulips" is just wonderful, like Camera Obscura interpreting the Carpenters.
Another big surprise that I never saw coming is the new album by goth innovators Bauhaus. I was into Bauhaus and its spin-off band Love & Rockets back in the mid-80s, and the Coachella reunion show a few years ago with Peter Murphy suspended upside-down like a vampire bat dude was an inspired piece of rock theatre, but when they announced they were briefly reforming to record their final album before splitting up for good, who could care less? It sounded like it would be as pointless a "comeback" album as the Stooges last year. Right? Well, not so fast. While Go Away White doesn't exactly push the proverbial envelope the way Bauhaus's early-80s material did, it's still a dignified return to form, infused with a lot of the glam rock influences the band toyed with, and which Love & Rockets dove into headfirst, with some darker mood pieces for good measure. You've got that fabulous, fuzzed-out guitar tone of Daniel Ash, David J's always-fluid basslines, and Murphy's charismatic singing, which sound as spot-on as they ever have, and the huge majority of songs deliver, highlighted by the contagious groove of "Adrenalin". Highly enjoyable all around...
