Thursday, September 3, 2009
My aforementioned project for Decibel was so time-consuming and just plain enthralling and fun that I really fell behind with the other writing, especially at PopMatters, where I have some serious catching up to do. Including a new column to do, and I can't decide what to do it on. Anyway, I plowed through a bunch of new reviews over the weekend, and two of them have already surfaced on the site.
I was really looking forward to the new collection of rare tracks by the Drive-By Truckers, and to no one's surprise, it does not disappoint. When a band leaves a label like the DBT did a few months ago, the inevitable Contractual Obligation Albums are hastily-thrown together collections that might throw a bone or two to fans, but usually end up feeling hollow. So you have to give this band credit for actually giving their very devoted audience their money's worth. Not only have a dozen tracks been culled from their 2003-2008 outtakes, but they actually headed back into the studio with producer David Barbe to give the songs a nice spit & polish. Couple that with the careful sequencing of the tracks, and you've got a CD that feels more like a new album than just another compilation. Of the six original tracks, Patterson Hood's "George Jones Talkin' Cell Phone Blues" and Jason Isbell's elegiac "TVA" stand out the most, while the alternate take of Mike Cooley's "Uncle Frank" actually sounds a lot better than the version we hear on Pizza Deliverance. That said, the four covers are the real draw, in my opinion. Their loosey-goosey run-through of "Like a Rolling Stone" has been on my mp3 player for nearly four years now, and the cover of Tom T. Hall's "Mama Bake a Pie" is nice and understated, showcasing their acoustic skill. I've been wanting to get my paws on their cover of Tom Petty's "Rebels" ever since it appeared at the end of a King of the Hill episode in 2004, and now that it's finally available, it was worth the wait, obliterating the original. The real shocker, though, is the cover of Warren Zevon's "Play it All Night Long", a song that suits this band to a tee, and they tear into it, making the already dark song sound vicious. Anyway, it's a very strong album (weirdly, I rated it higher than the last album, which might seem a bit odd), and if I haven't convinced you to check it out already, here's my full review.
And on a completely different note, my review of the new Bloody Panda album is up today. There are some metal bands that try so hard to be scary and shocking, and just fail miserably time again, but there are others who succeed so mightily at scaring the living daylights out of you, that it's devastating. Portal is one such band, and Bloody Panda is another. The NYC band is fascinating visually, a Japanese female singer surrounded by doomy metal doods wearing executioner's masks, and they back it up with some fo the most vicious, unsettling doom metal you'll ever hear. It's never immediate, either, you have to give their music time to settle in, and indeed, Summon ultimately proves rewarding after several listens. Enhancing the whole experience is a special DVD containing a film that uses the 20 minute track "Miserere" as its soundtrack...I was reminded of Bruce Conner, but who knows whose work the assemblage draws from, it's just plain surreal. Which is sort of Bloody Panda's modus operandi. They're anything if not surreal, and this album is an unforgettable, harrowing, enthralling experience.
Shifting gears again (I do like variation in my music), I'll be seeing Franz Ferdinand tonight. Through some stupid miracle, a top-flight UK band is actually paying my city a visit. And fittingly, last time I checked there were still tickets available. See, any rock band that's not named Nickelback is going to be a tough sell on the prairies, so it can be tough being an Anglophile out here. Anyway, sell-out or no, I'll be delivering a recap in the next 24 hours. It's bound to be a great show.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
It's been a furious few weeks, but the big project for Decibel was finally completed in full on Sunday. It was all-consuming, but I have never had more fun putting together a feature as I did on this one. I'll mention more in a month or so, but I will say it's my very first piece for the Decibel Hall of Fame, and that the inductee was recorded in Germany in 1982. If you know your heavy metal history, this'll be easy to figure out, but if not, well, you'll just have to wait for the November issue.
I really wanted to get that assignment done before this past Monday, as that was the day I and practically half of the province descended upon the city of Regina to see the long-awaited return of AC/DC. I had already seen them twice, in 1986 and 1988, but when tickets went on sale this past spring, I just couldn't get through the Ticketmaster online bottleneck. Thankfully, and luckily, my brother's co-worker had four to sell a couple months ago. They were upper level seats, and that in itself was an adventure. Taylor Field (or whatever they call it these days) is an old stadium, built in the days when architects had no regard for the poor folks who actually had to make their way up there, so you need a Sherpa to get up the steep, railing-less steps. And the Regina area is so flat you can practically see Winnipeg from where you're sitting. The sight lines are superb, perfectly suited for football, and indeed, by the time it was time for the frightfully ordinary The Answer to take the stage about a mile from where we were, I was thinking, this is nice. Then the flippin' Snowbirds did a fly-by that all but gave me a heart attack, and the vertigo started to set in for the rest of the night. Making things comically worse was that everyone stood when AC/DC came on at 9:00 sharp, and I tell you, it completely freaked me out having to stand in the dark, completely unable to see my feet, feeling like I was at the edge of a cliff. It's so weird, I've been to stadiums and arenas all over the place, but this was the first time I'd been that freaked out. Oddly enough it was the sight of a fluttering piece of confetti about 30 feet ahead of me that had me almost panicking. I had to sit, I couldn't take it anymore.
Mercifully, this was an AC/DC show, and no matter how precarious the location, it was impossible not to enjoy. Simply put, if you don't like AC/DC, there's something wrong with you. One of the great rock 'n' roll bands of all time, and no matter when and where you're seeing them, you always know what you're going to get. The real treat for me this time, though, was that I FINALLY got to hear rock's great rhythm section in its entirety. In the 80s, drummer Phil Rudd had been replaced by Simon Wright, who was a ferocious drummer but lacked the swing and groove that the chain-smoking Rudd was so good at on the classic albums. In addition, the second time I saw them, Malcolm Young was battling alcoholism and was temporarily replaced by his nephew Stevie for a chunk of the '88 tour. And while Angus Young and Brian Johnson attract all the attention, Malcolm's importance cannot be underestimated. In my mind, he's more important than his flashy brother, keeping every track anchored in a wicked groove, churning out blues riffs that are simple, memorable, and incredibly tight. And so I kept watching those three fellas in the shadows, Malcolm, Rudd, and bassist Cliff Williams, simply hanging back and driving every single song, that rhythmic power most evident on tracks like "Whole Lotta Rosie", "Shoot to Thrill", and show-stopper "Let There Be Rock". Of course Angus sounded as good as ever, and even though he's clearly pacing himself these days, he still gets himself worked into a sweat, and continues to reach into the bag of tricks that the fans expect. Johnson's always hit or miss in the vocal department, but overall he sounded solid, at least from what I heard. What else can I say? All the classics were dragged out, the new stuff (five tracks in total) fit in very well, and deep cuts "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be", "Dog Eat Dog", and "Shot Down in Flames" were a treat to hear. Oh, and the $15 blinking devil horns are a brilliant marketing idea, making for a very cool sight when more than half of a crowd of 40,000 is wearing them. Even though getting down those stupid stairs was terrifying, it was well worth stress, easy. Plus the city of Regina has to be commended for being able to coordinate big stadium events so well. The park & rides are extremely efficient, and they give people enough advance warning of what to expect. Although the Headband Nazis were a bit much...they're so paranoid about gangs in Regina that they made a poor fella who wasn't doing anything wrong take off his Black Label Society bandanna. At any rate, I was plenty frazzled when I made it back home at 2:30, and I'm still recovering. As always, the setlist:
Rock N' Roll Train (video)
Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
Back in Black (video)
Big Jack
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Shot Down in Flames
Thunderstruck (video)
Black Ice
The Jack
Hells Bells (video)
Shoot to Thrill
War Machine
Dog Eat Dog
Anything Goes
You Shook Me All Night Long
T.N.T. (video)
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock (part 1) (part 2) (part 3)
Encore:
Highway to Hell
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) (video)
Thank goodness for YouTube. Still on the AC/DC thing, here's the opening of the Montreal show on the Who Made Who tour, the same summer I saw them for the first time. And here's "For Those About to Rock" from the same show, featuring the cannons that scared the pants off me when I was 15. Also, here's "Fly on the Wall", one of their most underrated songs. Lastly, here's a clip of "Heatseeker", the first song of the '88 tour. Ah, those crazy stage gimmicks.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
I've been hard at work on my gigantic writing project, and after a lengthy time on the backstretch, we're heading into the final turn. I can't wait to blab about this, but it's going to have to wait another month or so. But it's a biggie.
Just a few weeks after my July column, the August column went up late last week, in which I turn out to be the 500 bazillionth person to interview Nergal from Behemoth. He's a smart guy and the new album totally destroys, so I figured I could get some responses that might stand out among the usual pre-album hype. What I wasn't counting on was a botched phone number transfer (NOT MY FAULT) that led to me missing a key spot on a press day. This after having planned htis interview a month in advance. So instead of getting half an hour with a guy ready to talk, I was stuck with a hastily arranged cellphone conversation from a noisy location. Then my recorder conked and I missed a key quote (I know, I know, TAKE NOTES, but I can't scribble stuff down and maintain a conversation at the same time, it's impossible). Argh. But the interview turned out okay, I think. Even though everybody and their dog is writing about Behemoth right now, I think all the hype is warranted, as Evangelion really feels like the kind of album Behemoth should have put out two years ago, a tremendous piece of work. I just hope they come back around here this winter, I'd love to see them again. They're an absolute force live. Oh, and if you haven't seen the rather disturbing video for "Ov Fire and the Void", do so at once.
Over at Hellbound, I reviewed the new Korpiklaani album. I've loved these Finnish folk metalers for years, and was very pleased to get a chance to see them this past spring, but Karkelo feels somewhat disappointing, as if their one-album-per-year pace has finally caught up to them. Some might say it's "darker" (wait, I think I did in the review), but that's just another word for "tired". The booze anthems are on autopilot (save for "Juodaan Viinaa", which is all kinds of awesome), while there's too much emphasis on guitar crunch and not enough melding of folk and metal, which is, as we all know, this band's forte. Stray from that, and they become as boring as Finntroll.
Also over in Hellboundland I did a quick piece on the shockingly competent Divine Heresy record. I loathed their first one, it was unimaginative and the singer played up the d00d rock cliches to a painful degree. This one though, is a lot more focused, a lot more brootaler (egads, Tim Leung is unreal on drums), and their new singer (replacing the aforementioned d00d, who actually quit the band onstage the night before New England Metal Fest last year, where I just happened to be) turns out to be quite the metal vocalist, pulling off a very good Devin Townsend impersonation. In other words, growly, but melodic. Which is always good.
Two albums that really knocked me out are the new ones by Finnish post-metalers Ghost Brigade and crushing guitar/drums duo Black Cobra. More on those when the reviews are published in Decibel.
We're getting to that time of year where the big Fall releases are starting to trickle in (we're only about a month and a half or so away from year-end list preparations for print mags), and a couple of biggies have come my way. Going into 2009, the second full-length by Baroness was very, very high on the most-anticipated list, and wow, does it ever deliver. It's not much of a digression from The Red Album, but it does sound more refined, the melodies are a lot stronger and prominent (I keep thinking of Torche throughout this record), and there are some very, very cool acoustic touched. In fact, you can make a very good argument that "Steel That Sleeps the Eye" is low-rent Fleet Foxes (!), but a more diplomatic comparison might be to something like the Moody Blues. The riffs are still there, but they feel downplayed a bit, as Thin Lizzy-style dual harmonies are the prominent guitar parts. As for favourite tracks, right now I'd say the Southern rawk of "The Gnashing", the galloping "The Sweetest Curse", and the rampaging "Jake Leg". The big question will be, what's the best Georgia metal album of the year, Baroness, Kylesa, or Mastodon? Too close to call, in my opinion.
The other noteworthy late-year album I'm currently spinning is the huge new Slayer album, the comically titled World Painted Blood. And guess what? It sounds like Slayer. Sure, they've become a bit predictable, and Kerry King is really becoming a more ridiculous lyricist with each passing year, but theirs is a formula that, for me anyway, always works. I really, really enjoyed Christ Illusion, but in all honesty I think this new album is even better. The riffs are a little more diverse, the songs delving into the subtle melodies we heard on Seasons in the Abyss, and Tom Araya puts in as good a vocal performance as he's done in the last decade or so. We all know how great the Sirius Liquid Metal staple "Psychopathy Red" is, and new single "Hate Worldwide" is solid, but the one song that's really blown me away is the title track, which opens the album. The band is en fuego, the riffs inspired, Araya growling away (I always say it, I love how he can sound so extreme yet enunciate every time), and Dave Lombardo laying down a nifty mid-tempo groove. Production-wise, it really feels like South of Heaven, really, really dry, drums way up in the mix, bass pushed way back. Two other tracks that have stuck out for me are "Beauty Through Order" and "Playing With Dolls", both of which are a lot moodier than anything Slayer has done lately. Overall, a very good album.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Okay, I have to force myself to update this page, because it's just going to get even more hectic really soon. More on that in a week or two hopefully.
The new issue of Decibel is out, and it's a good one, from the Behemoth cover story to the DRI Hall of Fame. Plus there's a few things of my own to plug, like my Voivod feature. I remain an admirer of the new album, even though some people are bellyaching about how it's not "proggy"...personally, even though the arrangements are a lot more straightforward than we're used to from Voivod, it makes for some of their most spirited music in years. Plus even though Piggy has long since passed away, his style and tone on this posthumous record in unmistakable, and it's great we get to hear those inimitable riffs one more time. Anyway, it was a real pleasure to talk to Away for the piece, he's a really nice guy. It's always cool when people from your favourite bands turn out to be genuinely friendly people in person, too.
Also up is my smaller piece on Tyr, whose new album is a little bit more aggressive and upbeat than we've come to expect (and this song is just so darn awesome). Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Heri Joensen is a really nice, quiet guy with that typical deadpan Scandinavian sense of humour, but when talking about his music he gets dead serious. Even though the feature is only 475 words long, you can still notice that.
As for reviews in the new mag, there's the cool new debut by Astra, a new retro-prog rock band from San Diego who takes a really old-timey approach, which when pulling off early-70s prog, is pretty much the only way to do it. While it's not a failure by any stretch, I'm still a bit disappointed in the new Darkest Hour album. I was a big fan of their last two, which combined classic Swedish melodic death metal with some ambitious approaches to melody, but this one totally reverts to their early sound, just another faithful rehash of In Flames' Whoracle album, with predictable arrangements and boring vocals. Meanwhile, the new EP by SoCal black metal band Winterthrall is a surprisingly good collection of moody, atmospheric, goth-tinged tunes. I got a kick out of poking fun at their decidedly non-chilly locale. Saving the best for last, my review of that awesome new Goatwhore album is also in this issue, but unfortunately, it's not on the website! So you'll have to take my word for it. This album has yet to wear on me, it's flat-out one of the very best metal albums of 2009...I just might rank it #2 behind Cobalt when all's said and done.
Nothing new at PopMatters yet (got some catching up to do), but over at Hellbound my Clutch concert review went up last week (a piece I'm quite happy with), and just the other day my review of the cool new one by Bill Steer's blues trio Firebird was posted.
The Washington Post isn't exactly the first place you go when looking for articles about Grindcore, but this weekend's Pig Destroyer story was not only shocking to see, but it turned out to be exceptionally well-written. It's great to see a great band like that get that kind attention.
It might be nearly a year and a half from that crazy Paganfest trip I took, but this week the guys in Gwynbleidd posted a really awesome video clip of one of the songs they played in Montreal. What an amazing night that was...Gwynbleidd was just the first band, but as you can see in the footage, the place was packed (1600 people!) and the crowd was already going nuts. One of the best shows I have ever seen, and it was cool meeting the guys after their set.
I've spun the hugely anticipated new album by Baroness several times over the past couple days, and I have to say I like it a lot, it's grabbed me immediately, as opposed to the last one, which took the better part of the summer to get in my head. And like The Red Album, The Blue Record (I sense a pattern here) continues to drift away from that gargantuan sound of their early EPs, into far more accessible territory, not entirely dissimilar to that of Torche. The songs are more immediate, more layered, and while the heaviness isn't completely absent ("A Horse Called Golgotha" and "War, Wisdom and Rhyme", for instance), it is downplayed more than I thought it would in favour of more lithe dual guitar harmonies (more Thin Lizzy than Mastodon), as well as acoustic tangents (the majestic "Steel That Sleeps the Eye") and jam-like passages (as on the amazing "The Gnashing"). This record does not disappoint, that's for sure.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Being a regular reader of Last Plane to Jakarta for the last few years, John Darnielle's rave review of Bowerbirds' first album compelled me to seek it out back in 2007, and it turned out to be a likable bit of rustic, old-timey folk music, sounding as if it was recorded by a couple of backwoods hicks who couldn't care less what indie hipster niche they'd be linked to. They were totally wide-eyed and sincere, a very welcome respite from the usual self-referential fare we tend to hear in indie rock these days. Their second album just came out a short while ago, and although it's not exactly anything new, it's still a very pretty little record that subtly wins you over, highlighted by the beautiful "Northern Lights", which shamelessly evokes Neil Young circa 1971, fitting neatly between Harvest and Deja Vu. It really should be no surprise that Bowerbirds haven't tried to reinvent the wheel, but there are moments on this record that feel like they could be a jumping-off point towards bolder-sounding fare in the future. Anyway, my review is up today, and if you like acoustic music completely devoid of pretension, you'll like this one.
This past weekend was all about Clutch. First, my review of their ninth album appeared back on Friday. It's a record that I really had to warm up to...I was a huge fan of their use of Hammond B3 on the last three albums, so when Mick Schauer left the band last year, it didn't sit too well with me, and when I first heard Strange Cousins From the West, it felt bare without those groovy organ licks backing up the rest of the band. However, once I got used to the idea of Clutch being a four-piece once again, the songs won me over. This is just a terrific album, their most spirited effort since Blast Tyrant five years ago, the songs continuing in the same direction as the previous three releases, guitarist Tim Sult really stepping up with the riffs, and Neil Fallon continuing to explore the bluesier side of things more and more.
Then on Sunday, the band was in town for the first time in a couple years. Last time I saw them, I didn't really see them at all, as it was at the awful, tacky local dive Rylys, with its poor sight lines, idiot staff and security, and general ugly vibe. This time, though, they were at the infinitely more comfy Odeon, and the change of scenery made a world of difference. I was really looking forward to finally seeing Baroness after missing them a couple of times before, but unfortunately they were forced to leave the tour to attend to some personal business, so we were stuck with a 45 minute set by Sult's side project Lionize. Basically a blend of reggae and stoner rock, it has its moments, but quickly grew tiresome. On the other hand, last-minute fill-ins Orbital Express drove up from Regina and blew everyone away. Rarely have I seen a local band at a big show win over a skeptical crowd the way these four fellas did, and their spirited Kyuss-style stoner groove had the place jumping. Terrific band.
As for Clutch, they were as awesome as ever. In fact, it was the best show I'd ever seen from them, the setlist a lot stronger (at least in my opinion) than the last time I'd seen them, with more balance between old stuff and newr material, which I greatly prefer. I wrote a nice review of the show for Hellbound which should be apearing soon, so I'll withhold further comments, but as always, I'll post the setlist. I just love how it opened and closed with blues tunes...the last third of the show was spectacular. Here you go:
Who's Been Talking
Elephant Riders
Slow Hole To China
The House That Peterbilt
50,000 Unstoppable Watts
Struck Down
The Devil and Me
Escape From The Prison Planet
Raised By Horses
The Yeti
Burning Beard
The Incomparable Mr. Flannery
Child Of The City
Abraham Lincoln
The Amazing Kreskin
The Mob Goes Wild
Encore:
Let A Poor Man Be
Electric Worry
One Eye Dollar
I like Muse and all, but the samples from their heavily-hyped new album have me suspicious. Firs they're ripping off Queen, and then they're imitating Goldfrapp five years too late. RIFFS, young master Bellamy, RIFFS is what you're good at. Bring the riffs. Either way, this record is going to sell like crazy worldwide. I just hope the band has some dignity left when all's said and done.
Spotify continues to rule. It takes a little effort, but it is easy to access it here in North America (and stay renewed), and it's just fantastic. Apparently an iphone app has been submitted, and when it does surface, it's only a matter of time before streamed music takes a stranglehold on popular culture, this continent included. Wired has a really good article on the whole thing. Like it or not, this is the future of music listening.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
I can never resist a chance to write about early-'80s hard rock and heavy metal. I have a real attachment to that era, especially between the years 1983 and 1986, it was basically the only positive thing in a period of my young life I'd rather just forget forever, and so typical of a kid looking for an escape from what was a devastating life at school, I absolutely immersed myself in the heavy music of the time. And what a glorious time to do so, classic albums were coming out left and right, and being 13, 14 years old, we couldn't help but take it all of granted, not realizing until a decade or so just how special a time it was. Just look at the classic metal that came out in 83-84: Piece of Mind, Holy Diver, Kill 'Em All, Restless and Wild, Melissa, Show No Mercy, At War With Satan. And I could go on. From 1984: Ride the Lightning, Powerslave, Don't Break the Oath, Balls to the Wall, Defenders of the Faith, Morbid Tales, Haunting the Chapel, Fistful of Metal, Bathory. And the pop side of the genre was exploding at the same rate, too: Shout at the Devil, Metal Health, 1984, Lick it Up, Love at First Sting, Bon Jovi, Slide it In, Out of the Cellar, Perfect Strangers, Tooth and Nail. Wow.
As far as pop metal went, no albums dominated the public consciousness quite like Def Leppard did in 1983 and Twisted Sister did a year later, and arriving just in time for me to write my 40th column, both of those bands' breakthrough albums, Leppard's Pyromania and Twisted's Stay Hungry, have been reissued as swanky expanded deluxe editions. When it came to Pyromania, I've long felt that it's a little top-heavy, its singles far outweighing the deep tracks, but it remains a marvel of Big 80s hard rock production, a masterwork of pop songwriting, hard rock swagger, and especially Mutt Lange's immaculate production...reading David Fricke's liner notes in the reissue, I am astounded to learn that the chords in "Billy's Got a Gun" were recorded literally one string at a time. But those singles, especially the trifecta of "Photograph", "Rock of Ages", and "Foolin'" (best track on the album, in my opinion), are just so undeniable. It's no wonder the album sold a bazillion copies, those singles are just too perfect. As for the reissue itself, it's a stunner: immaculately remastered, and appended with an asonishing live set from LA in late 1983, in which the band sounds more ferocious than I'd ever heard them before. I had no idea these dudes ever sounded that good, what a revelation. If you can find it for a good price (I gt it for 30 bucks Canadian, totally worth it), you will not be disappointed.
I'm actually more attached to Stay Hungry, primarily because it arrived at the right time, when my obsession with heavy music was really starting to take off, and that album, along with Ratt's Out of the Cellar, dominated my walkman that summer. It's unfair that the band gets lumped in with the rest of the vapid "hair metal" from the 80s when in fact they were a phenomenal, gutter-level traditional metal band, but that said, they would never have made the mainstream crossover were it not for Tom Werman's high-gloss production on "We're Not Gonna Take It". That song was everywhere, the perfect junior high anthem, but my own fave has always been the track that followed, the dark and menacing "Burn in Hell", a brilliant display of shock rock theatrics. In my column I go into detail about the cool bonus disc of demos, but I couldn't comment on the remastering because as it turns out, the first printing of the album disc turned out to be flawed, and Rhino has issued a recall of those discs, where anyone who bought it can get a free corrected replacement disc. So hopefully that'll arrive soon, because this is one album that would benefit from a thorough spit & polish. Anyway, give the piece a read, I had fun doing it, and I think it turned out well.
More writing links are forthcoming (including a slew in the upcoming Decibel issue), but aside from the column, the only other one right now is my little review of the great little three-song EP by Rhode Island band Howl that Relapse put out this month. A fun listen, one that bodes well for their debut album, which should be a good one.
It's been a good time for new indie pop from across the Atlantic, that's for certain. I'm supposed to be listening to the metal these days, but I cannot stop listening to three artists in particular. First is England's La Roux, who I heard back in January, but whose recent single "Bulletproof" completely floored me, a dead-on rehash of UK synth pop circa 1985 that I've been playing over and over and over. Then there's Barcelona's Delorean, who sublimely blend house and New Order-style Factory pop on their wonderful new Ayrton Senna EP, led by the sparkling "Seasun". And from Sweden, there's kitchen sink electro outfit jj, who have just put out a new album to great acclaim, which is highlighted by "Ecstasy", which takes that dreadful lollipop song, strips it bare, and makes something rather pretty out of it. All three are potential favourite singles of 09.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
I never get anything done in July. It's always been a problem, but this year I was able to plan ahead and get stuff done early enough to free up some time. Still, though, when writing five Decibel pieces right smack in the middle of seven days of fun and mayhem with the nieces, something's going to fall by the wayside temporarily, and this time it was the blog. So again, there's some catching up to do as I decompress this week before another weekend o'craziness.
On the PopMatters front, I reviewed the brand new live album by Judas Priest. Earlier this year when I saw it was going to be comprised of various selections of tracks from the last two tours, I was a little wary, but as it turns out, this album works tremendously well on a couple of levels. First, nearly all the tracks are ones that haven't been performed that often, so the fact that we don't have to hear the umpteenth live rendition of "Breaking the Law" or "You've Got Another Thing Coming" is cool. But also, we get to hear just how great a live band Priest still is, and how Rob Halford has effectively tweaked his vocal delivery on such tracks as "Painkiller" and "Beyond the Realm of Death", so as not to exceed his diminished vocal grasp, and comes out sounding as godly as ever. I would have liked to have seen "Rock Hard, Ride Free" and "Devil's Child" make the album, but as it is, it's a very, very pleasant surprise. And while I'm on the subject of the mighty Priest, they've brought back "Freewheel Burnin'" on this summer's tour, which had I been in attendance, would have freaked me completely out.
It's always kind of funny when a British band rips off an American sound that's so incredibly overdone on this side of the Atlantic yet hasn't been done very much over there, because the UK music press tends to fall over themselves declaring how wonderful and original and clever said band is. When in fact, they're just plain ordinary. That's certainly the case with Gallows, who for all of their punky bluster, are just another Minor Threat/Botch/Converge rip-off. That said, at times they do it really well, and there are moments on their new album where they actually sound phenomenal, but it's not long before the heavy-handed production and weak metal riffs start to take over and the record completely loses its focus. There are no power ballads in punk. We have Nightwish and Sonata Arctica to do that stuff. Punk needs intensity and passion, which Gallows only half delivers. Hence the rating of 5.
A few weeks back back I did my piece on YOB for Hellbound, but the new album is so good that I just had to review it in full for PopMatters. So, Kerouac nerd that I am, I managed to incorporate the idea of Buddhism's Four Noble Truths into the review, and I think it turned out quite nicely. At the very least, I hope I didn't misinterpret anything and offend any devout Buddhists out there. I meant well. This album is killer.
Last Tuesday I headed out to Amigos to catch Bison BC, FINALLY. I'd missed their last three visits to the city, and was not going to do that again, so even though I was exhausted from chasing two year-old Julianna around all day, I hauled my carcass to the place, and proceeded to have a blast. Lazarus AD, who I reviewed for Decibel early this year, brought some fun, old-timey thrash, while Bison, who is really gaining a strong following out here, thoroughly impressed me, sounding more crushing than on record. These fellas have to record with Jack Endino or Kurt Ballou. Anyway, I reviewed the show for Hellbound, which can be read here.
Lastly, actually just this afternoon, I slapped together a piece on the series of limited edition seven-inch singles by blue-collar metal doods Saviours. They just keep getting better and better, and these six new racks, recorded during the demo sessions for their third album, are absolutely scorching, their best work yet. These singles are so good, so filthy sounding, that I want the entire album to sound like that, but you know it's going to have a fair bit more polish to that. I just hope the swagger is the same as on these tracks, because, wow. Saviours are on the verge of becoming a great band. At any rate, the piece went up mere hours after I sent it in, so here you go!
Finnish Metal Update:
- The new Sonata Arctica album: Pretty darn enjoyable.
- The new Ensiferum album: One of the year's biggest disappointments.
That's all I'll say for now. And I don't think my opinion will waver, on either record.
One of the best DVD purchases I've made in a while was the glorious, brand spankin' new Criterion release of Last Year at Marienbad. I was baffled when I first saw it about a dozen years ago, but when I watched it again, it seemed clearer. It's not so much a story as a poem, one that forces you to draw your own conclusions. It's hypnotic, so gorgeously shot and immaculately composed, and Delphine Seyrig is the perfect embodiment as supercool French New Wave detachment. Well, along with Jean-Paul Belmondo, that is. And here's something I never knew, Blur made a video (15 years, and I never knew this) for the classic ballad "To the End" that was a really well-made homage to Marienbad. Though if you've seen the original you'll know straight away that the girl's hair in the Blur video is combed the wrong way. I actually found that distracting, which is odd.
The new Clutch album has grown on me in a big way. I'll explain further once my review goes up. They're in town in a couple weeks with Baroness, which should be a great show.
Have you seen the cute new Sally Shapiro video yet?
Oh, and the new Muse song is a baffling mess. Muse is always at their best when Bellamy is bringing the monster riffs, and not going all Queen on us. Seriously, who knew it was possible make "We Are the Champions" sound even more pompous and obnoxious? Yikes. Hopefully the rest of the new album will be better.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
With my mid-year report taking so much time to do and a busy week, I've fallen a bit behind in the review & article links, so I'd better get on that. At PopMatters, my second review of the new Voivod album went up. And as I said before, I'm really enjoying it...for all its streamlined qualities, it still has that inimitable Voivod sound, plus the new tracks are on the whole stronger than on Katorz, and the production is better as well. You couldn't have asked for a better result under the circumstances by the surviving members, quite frankly. The Voivod blathering doesn't end there, either, as next month's issue of Decibel will contain my big feature piece on the band, which considering my admiration of these guys, was a labour of love.
Over at Hellbound, Sean Palmerston put together a very cool Canada Day feature, where us writers got to pick our favourite Canadian metal album of all time. It was a tough choice for me, but I ultimately went with Voivod's Dimension Hatross, and I go into detail about my reasons for the choice in the piece. It's about time I replaced my old Maze cassette, too!
One very fun project over the last few weeks was my interview with Mike Scheidt, guitarist/vocalist from Oregon doom greats YOB, who have reformed after a four year hiatus and just happen to have put out the best album of their career. Anyway, Scheidt's a very interesting fella, and it was great fun to talk to him about his band, his music, and Buddhism, which has always been at the core of YOB's music, but especially over the last couple years, has gotten him through some very tough times. I slapped it all together for a big feature for Hellbound, basically doing the same as I do for my column. It went up last weekend and got a really nice reaction...so give it a read, and then seek out the album, it's a great one.
I might be doing fewer metal concert write-ups for this page, but not because I won't be going to any shows...quite the contrary, as the next three months are going to be absolutely nuts. But I'll still be writing live reviews, only for Hellbound, and my first was this week, as I went to see Goatwhore and friends tear up the tiny confines of Walker's. It was a small Monday night crowd and the venue is always less than perfect (the sound guy always seems a bit out of touch), but that didn't matter, as all five bands were fun. I loved the diversity, from SWWAATS' modern death/grind, to Abysmal Dawn's traditional death metal, to DAATH's highly melodic, shredding approach, to Abigail Williams' blend of black metal and metalcore, to the mighty blue-collar heroes Goatwhore, who have just put out one of the metal albums of 2009. I was expecting Goatwhore to be great, and they indeed were, but the big surprise was DAATH, who despite the dicey sound mix, were energetic, tight, and ferocious. They had the circle pits going. A great, tightly run show (with all change-overs going very smoothly), the best one I've seen at walker's to date. Next up: the potentially awesome double bill of Bison BC and Lazarus AD at Amigos on Tuesday. Metal shows at Amigos are always cool events.
Also, I finally got the new issue of Decibel, which contains some cool stuff by yours truly. I wrote a studio report on 3 Inches of Blood, talking to guitarist Shane Clark, who's a nice dude. No link to the story, so you'll just have to hunt down the mag for that. But I will say that I have since heard the finished album a ton of times (spinning it as I write this, actually), and it kills. Great, ragged, old school metal...in other words, right up my alley.
As for album reviews, it's not the most impressive stack of records I wrote about, including the new Suicide Silence, which is one of the most annoying albums I've heard all year. I got so frustrated with their empty, pointless deathcore, that I just let them have it, or to be specific, their audience, writing a piece that's actually become a personal fave of mine. I just get so sick of seeing idiot bands and their idiot fans. It's incredible, the amount of disrespect you see at all-age metal shows. All crowds have their jerks, no question, but these days it just seems to be getting worse. But I digress...also reviews is the interesting slab of progressive metal by Spanish band Nahemah, as well as yet another workmanlike by the perpetually workmanlike Neaera. Both albums are decent, but nothing really to write home about, either.
On the non-metal front, I was very pleased to hear about the upcoming shows by the Hold Steady and Franz Ferdinand, both at the Odeon in September. Those are going to be a couple of great rock shows, two bands I've been wanting to see for ages.
The Polaris Prize short list was announced on Tuesday, and any excitement I had was quickly deflated by the complete drabness of this year's list. Of the ten finalists, Fucked Up's The Chemistry of Common Life is easily the strongest, while Metric, K'NAAN, and Chad Van Gaalen are worthy inclusions. But Joel Plaskett, Patrick Watson, Malajube, Great Lake Swimmers, Elliott Brood, and Hey Rosetta are all boring, boring, boring choices. The Francophone bands were really robbed...the recent albums by La Patere Rose and Coeur De Pirate are so much better than the underwhelming Malajube, that it's stupid. And whither Junior Boys, Japandroids, Handsome Furs, One Hundred Dollars, Pink Mountaintops, Women, Wolf Parade, Woodpigeon? Any of those bands would have been more deserving than the tired singer-songwriters so many of my Canadian peers seem to latch on to. And the lack of a strong female presence on the short list is troubling, too. If there was one guy best suited to address this troubling trend of predictable voting results, it's Carl Wilson, and his analysis and proposed solution is extremely interesting to read. At any rate, Go Fucked Up! Any complaints would go away if they won the 20,000 bucks.
Monday, July 6, 2009
It's weird sometimes how the weeks and months fly by, how you spend so much time listening to new tunes that by the time to take a second to pause and look back at the previous six months, you realise just how good a year it's actually been for new music. That's definitely the case in 2009, as new release after quality new release seems to have slowly but steadily piled up to the point where I had to force myself to stop listing all the good albums I've heard so far. It's been a really good year, simple as that, with an eclectic array of records captivating me, and a bunch more on the horizon. And to think I have three months to put together my year-end list for Decibel! Far too many good albums to listen to, nowhere near enough time. But I do what I can, and for the ninth year in a row, I present my annual mid-year report. Wow, what good albums these all are...check 'em all out!
The Best Album of the Year So Far:
Fever Ray - Fever Ray
I was a big fan of the Knife's 2007 album Silent Shout, but while it was cool to hear that singer Karin Dreijer Andersson was putting out a solo album, there was no way that I was expecting it to top the previous releases by her main band. That's exactly what she's done, though, creating a dark, bleak, brooding, eccentric piece of work that for all its minimalism, sounds richer than anything the Knife has ever done. No other album got to me like Fever Ray has done; it's hard to explain, there's an innate attraction to it that resonates completely, whether it's the haunting "If I Had a Heart" (which is as dark and menacing as any extreme metal song), the oddly wistful "Seven", or the song that clinched it for me, the forlorn-sounding "Keep the Streets Empty For Me", one of the greatest tracks for solitary night owls ever put on record. This album is a slam dunk...I do not expect anything in the last half of 2009 to top this. But then again, stranger things have happened...
And as per usual, here are the leading contenders for my year-end top twenty, in alphabetical order. There were so many to choose from this year, that I was forced to limit myself to twelve choices!
Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs
I was expecting big things from the French band going into 09, and they didn't disappoint, delivering a spellbinding, often gorgeous blend of post punk and black metal. Taut dark wave offset by harsh blasts of distortion, the grating screams of Neige offset by the dulcet singing of Audrey Sylvain, Amesoeurs walks the line between both genres with dazzling ease.
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Now this I was not expecting. At all. From the beginning, I'd considered Animal Collective to be one of the most overhyped, pretentious acts in indie rock, but on their eighth album, everything that made up their haphazard sound suddenly gelled magically, lush melodies and harmonies meshing with twinkling, shimmering arrangements, gigantic hooks leaping out of the speakers.
Cobalt - Gin
Incredibly, I heard the best metal album of 2009 when it wasn't even 2009 yet. Colorado's Cobalt was always one of the better bands in the US metal underground, but they elevated their game in a huge, huge way on their third album, creating a fascinating hybrid of black metal, crust punk, and progressive rock. Epic arrangements, pure unadulterated ferocity, moments of shocking introspection, and some of the most disturbing, personal lyrics you will ever hear. A magnum opus.
Goatwhore - Carving Out the Eyes of God
This one really caught me by surprise, a case of a hard-working band finally exceeding expectations. There's not too much about Goatwhore's sound, essentially an homage to the 80s proto-black metal of Celtic Frost, Venom, and Bathory, but the riffs by Sammy Duet are phenomenal, the songs immensely catchy, the production pulverizing. You can't say you like metal and not like this album. This is heavy metal at its purest and truest, and absolute joy.
Handsome Furs - Face Control
I thought the first album by the side project of Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner was pretty decent, but he and his partner Alexei Perry have stepped up with a very cool follow-up. Loaded with insistent indie rock tunes that balance synth pop and scorching guitar rock, it's simple in its approach, which is a good thing, the duo doesn't try to complicate things. As a result we get such great tracks as "I'm Confused" and the New Order homage of "All We Want, Baby, is Everything".
Hanne Hukkelberg - Blood From a Stone
One of the smartest singer-songwriters out there, Norway's Hanne Hukkelberg is also one of the most underrated. Her approach to each of her records has always been a bit eccentric, utilizing odd instruments and rather peculiar ideas for percussion, but while some artists might come off as unbearably pretentious, Hukkelberg never stops sounding so charming, her melodies gentle, her lyrics often biting, the sonic backdrop intimate. That said, there's an insistence to this album that draws me in more than her last two records, and continues to enthrall me.
Isis - Wavering Radiant
It never fails, whenever I think I couldn't be more tired of sprawling "post-metal", Isis comes along and shows us all why they're the absolute best in the world at it. Wavering Radiant is the boldest move of their career, but it's also their finest album because of that, the songs less predictable, the melodies refined, organ becoming a prominent instrument, the production dry and organic-sounding. A real grower, it needs time to settle in, but once it does, its power can be awe-inspiring.
Kylesa - Static Tensions
Always a fave among critics, it wasn't until their fourth album that the Savannah, Georgia band truly started to show their potential. Furious, multi-faceted, and relentlessly catchy, things on this album seem to operate in twos, whether it's the battling guitars of Laura Pleasants and Philip Cope, the pair's very cool dual vocal dynamic, or their ace in the hole, the two-drummer set-up, which sounds punishing live and is exceptionally well presented on Static Tensions. Awesome album.
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Talk about bucking convention. After the somewhat middling sales of Blood Mountain, my 2006 album of the year, Mastodon shifted gears significantly on their fourth record, toning down the muscular riffs for a more adventurous, progressive rock sound. So befuddling was this stylistic shift that it caught many of us off-guard, but after a few months, Crack the Skye has settled in nicely, with the ten-minute "The Czar" ranking as the best Mastodon song I have ever heard. And whaddya know, the gamble has paid off, giving the band what will eventually be the biggest-selling album of their career, finally propelling them to metal stardom.
Metric - Fantasies
When I saw Metric perform in 2006, they seemed like a tired, unhappy band, but in December of 08, they looked and sounded rejuvenated, and does that feeling ever permeate their latest record. There's not much reinvention going on at all, with the exception of the guitars being toned down somewhat; it's simply their best album to date, Emily Haines and company sticking to their strengths, which is superbly crafted indie pop and little more. It's great to have them back.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Brooklyn band's name is enough for anyone to immediately dismiss them as just another dumb emocore band, but wow, is their sound ever a surprise. And a welcome one at that, especially for those of us who spent the mid-90s listening to bands like Velocity Girl and Black Tambourine. With its smart lyrics, shoegazey guitars, wistful melodies, and loosey-goosey drumming, it's a perfect album for anyone who loved 90s indie rock. Like yours truly.
Sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions
The masters of artsy metal at its most sprawling, Sunn O))) rely on a shtick that turns many people off, but when it works, which is often, the results can be extraordinary, and with this album, Steven O'Malley and Greg Anderson have topped themselves, creating a four part opus featuring songs so deceptive, feeling minimal and simple but in actuality have been meticulously arranged and recorded, the highlight being the 16 minute stunner "Alice". This is going to end up being their defining moment, the one Sunn O))) album I have listened to the most ever, and one of the year's finest, regardless of genre.
Lastly, here are my ten favourite singles of the first half of 2009:
1. Dirty Projectors - "Stillness is the Move" (video)
2. Fever Ray - "If I Had a Heart" (video)
3. Camera Obscura - "French Navy" (video)
4. PJ Harvey - "Black Hearted Love" (video)
5. Metric - "Sick Muse" (video)
6. Blacklist - "Flight of the Demoiselles" (mp3)
7. Doves - "Kingdom of Rust" (video)
8. Poppy and the Jezebels - "Rhubarb and Custard" (video)
9. Amorphis - "Silver Bride" (video)
10. Bat For Lashes - "Daniel" (video)
