Monday, November 29, 2010
Just a little reminder today that in 48 hours I'll be kicking off my 10th annual best music of the year thingamajiggy. December just crept right up on me...I still have music DVDs that qualify for my "best of the rest" list I have yet to watch! Better get going. At any rate, my albums list is going to be very interesting. After spending so much time on my metal lists (I just sent in my year-in-metal piece for PopMatters yesterday), it's going to be fun doing an all-inclusive one. It's been such a great year for music, metal or otherwise, that I had to leave out a lot of great stuff out of the top 20. Combining metal and non-metal for one all-inclusive list is very difficult, too. It wound up split right down the middle between metal and non. Most of the previous years metal has been a saving grace as other genres left me feeling indifferent, but this year was a different story, indie made a big return, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying a pile of albums for the first time in forever. That said, my top ten this year is awfully dark. Save for one title that's going to place very high. Most people who know me are well aware of what my favourite metal album of 2010 is, but will it be my #1 overall? We'll have to see, won't we?
At any rate, the fun starts right here first thing Wednesday, and will be updated daily right up to December 24th. So be sure to pay a visit every day (or follow me on Twitter) if you want to see a weird mish-mash of metal, pop, and indie that can only come from a music fan as bipolar as yours truly.
I'll continue linking to my articles whenever they're published, but for now I have one last review to plug here before the year-end festivities begin. I was so skeptical of the new Cradle of Filth album that I told my esteemed colleague at PopMatters, "Yes, PLEASE review it for me, I don't even want to waste any time listening to it." But then I was offered a copy by good buddy and Hellbound editor Sean, and I thought, okay, why not? So I gave it a try, and, well, you'll have to read the rest of the review. But needless to say I was pleasantly surprised by what I heard...
Friday, November 19, 2010
The November writing assignments are all done, so you know what that means: blurbin' time! Going into the annual year-end doin's, I have a present total of 24 blurbs to do before the end of the month, with more on the horizon, which includes this page's annual year-end extravaganza. I like this time of year because I'm basically doing nothing but listening to good music, no wasting my time with mediocre releases, all that goes out the window, never to be listened to again. And has 2010 ever turned into a great year for new music. When it's compiled, my overall top 20 is going to be fantastic, with a lot of very good albums missing the cut. My metal top 20 for PopMatters is already loaded with brilliant music, but when you factor in all the great non-metal music I've dug also, well, it makes combining the two sides very difficult. It's a nice problem to have, and the big even will start here first thing December 1st and will be updated daily until Christmas Eve. This page has been idle too much this year, but that won't be the case come December!
And yes, I have some new writing to plug. I've written a ton about Kylesa and their excellent new album lately...there's the big piece I got to do for the current issue of Decibel, which was great fun. Laura and Phillip are a couple of really nice people, and their perspectives always make for a great article. In addition, I reviewed the album for Terrorizer...I have yet to see that issue, but I was given a really pleasant surprise when I saw my Tez review was quoted on the sticker on the CD when I was browsing at HMV. It's trite, but I always get a kick out of that when it happens. That review was only a shortie, written a good three months ago, so it was really easy to put together a different, longer review for PopMatters as well. Needless to say, Spiral Shadow is an album you need to not only hear, but buy. The songwriting has advanced a great deal, with subtle tinges of 90s indie rock showing up now and again, the production is so much better than the last album, and the art design on the deluxe edition is superb.
The metal world has been talking about Virginia trio Salome a lot, which is no surprise, as they put a rather unique spin on doom metal, but what it surprising, weirdly so, is how the indie bloggers have latched on to this band. Especially in trend-happy Brooklyn, as the attention there has subsequwntly led to some truly weird occurences, including NPR streaming the album, the New York Times doing a feature, and even the Financial Post raving about their album. Now it would be easy to be turned off by all that scenester stuff, but while Terminal isn't exactly the great album some are making it out to be, it's still a very good one, easily worth your money. The sound is huge (this despite not having a bassist), the vocals by Kat Katz are intense, and the riffs are terrific, adding more variety than simple doom riffs. Plus the art design is ace. My review was published a few days ago.
Monster Magnet's Powertrip was my favourite album of 1998, but their subsequent albums never exactly impressed me much. They were never bad, in fact I liked their 2007 album 4-Way Diablo a fair bit, but none of the magic that Powertrip was so full of was present on their follow-ups. So consider my very pleasant surprise when their new CD Mastermind turned out to be their most inspired record in a good dozen years. Just good, straightforward heavy rock 'n' roll with plenty of psychedelic touches courtesy Dave Wyndorf. "Gods and Punks" is an awesome single, too, a tune that reminds me of the woefully underrated band The Four Horsemen. Like my review says, it's a welcome return to form by one of stoner rock's greatest bands. I'd love it if they played this city sometime.
I've always enjoyed Slough Feg's take on traditional heavy metal, having reviewed Atavism and Ape Uprising! in recent years, and it pleases me to say that The Animal Spirits is as good an album as they've put out lately. It's formulaic (Celtic-tinged Maiden-Lizzy homages), but I love the formula, and Mike Scalzi's one of the best metal vocalists around. On this album the songwriting is very consistent, plus they do an amazing cover of the Alan Parsons Project's "The Tell-Tale Heart" that is every bit as convincing as the classic original. If you like heavy metal, how on earth can you not like this stuff?
Meanwhile, over at Hellbound I had a fun project, reading and reviewing Phil Sutcliffe's new book, an illustrated history of AC/DC. It's tough to come up with unique perspectives on any band that's been written about as much as AC/DC, but I think he did a terrific job, as the book is both a wonderful collection of photos, but a very well-written biography and critical analysis of the band and their music. I wasn't too sure what to expect, but the book took no time to win me over. If you're into AC/DC, you'll like this book for sure.
Skipping ahead a bit, I've heard my first favourite album of 2011, that being the second album by Canadian traditional metal band Cauldron. When it comes to sounding "retro" metal, I prefer it when bands go all-in. Christian Mistress, Ghost, Wolf, and Portrait all do that, but Cauldron takes an approach I find especially refreshing, emulating the more melodic side of classic heavy metal that was prominent in the early-80s. I'm not talking about NWOBHM, either, I mean the Canadian underground, the stuff that spawned Moose Molten Metal and Maple Metal, with bands like Hateful Snake, Vigilants, Harlot's Webb, Reckless, Kid Wikkid, Sye, Jade, DDT, Warriors. Heck, even Lee Aaron and White Wolf. There was a whole wave of Canadian melodic metal bands that lasted no more than a few years in the early to mid-80s...they had the odd demo tracks that sometimes made it to a compilation, a music video, or a profile in Metallion magazine, or if they were lucky they got an album out of it all before fading into obscurity. It was a curious time, a lot of shallow music came out, but it was also very fun and catchy, and Cauldron encapsulates that era so perfectly, only unlike those old bands, they have a label like Earache behind them, allowing them to develop, and their new album Burning Fortune is a confident second effort. The riffs remain straight out of 1984, while the singing continues to improve. Best of all, the record is just loaded with hooks, with "Tears Have Come" the one that's grabbed me most right off the bat. These guys get it. This kind of music makes me grin like a nerd. It takes me back.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The writing has been going strong as of late, but the publishing of said writing sometimes takes time, but although I have plenty of stuff that's yet to be posted, there have been a few reviews that have surfaced over the last few weeks. I should mention the new Dimmu Borgir album, an incredibly confounding piece of work. The band underwent a major overhaul in 2009 with bassist/singer ICS Vortex and keyboardist Mustis unceremoniously fired, and it's clear form the start the remaining three members are bent on making a huge statement on Abrahadabra. Instead, the lasting impression we get is that it's a heavy-handed, overbearing record by a band that's gotten too big for its britches. They've been shedding their black metal roots for some time now, but this album is somethnig entirely different, a flat-out symphonic metal extravaganza with more than a hundred contributing musicians, including a full orchestra and choir. It's totally over the top, but it's a formula that can work, as Death Cult Armageddon proved. However, although they throw everything at the wall, very little sticks. Much to my surprise, the actual metal arrangements are astonishingly lazy, as the band leaves everything up to their orchestral arranger to add all the bells, whistles, and flourishes Dimmu used to do with guitar and keyboards. It's a colossal mess at times, "Gateways" and "Dimmu Borgir" the worst offenders, but those simple, lazy riffs that Silenoz comes up with are decent enough for me to give the album the most marginal of recommendations. Interestingly, the fans' response has been less kind, as the band's US numbers plummeted compared to In Sorte Diaboli three years ago. They were on such a roll, the North American sales and fanbase ever expanding, but it's clear that Abrahadabra has struch a real sour note with devotees. The band has just announced yesterday that they'll be making significant changes to the album artwork, which sounds to me to be a last-sitch attempt to recoup some of those lagging sales numbers by making the first pressing a "collector's item". Some better new songs might help instead, fellas.
And speaking of weird, Dimmu's cover of Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers" is as dopey as the rest of the album. I'm a massive fan of that song (and album), and it's clear the band is too, but this is such an awkward fit, it quickly becomes unbearable, the groove nonexistent and wooden, the famous post-chorus riff black-metaled up to an hilarious degree. Ugh.
And where's Galder in all this mess? He never contributes to the songwriting, content to be a supporting player, and meanwhile the last album by his band Old Man's Child runs circles around Abrahadabra. Okay, that's it, enough talking about that one.
All That Remains is far from the coolest metal band around, and there's no denying they're formulaic, but when a band sticks to a formula and does it well, what's so wrong with that? And what can I say, I thoroughly enjoy ATR. The songs are catchy, have great riffs and solos, and possess some tremendous hooks. They've come a long way since I first saw them six years ago, becoming smart, confident songwriters, and it's paying off for them in a big way, as they've slowly become a very popular band. For We Are Many offers the same stuff we heard on The Fall of Ideals and Overcome, with a few tweaks here and there. The songs are still very melodic, but this time around the big stadium sing-along choruses are downplayed in favour of hooks that are a little subtler. As a result it took me a while ot warm up to this CD, but after a month or so, I was enjoying it immensely, and I still am. It had a very, very strong debut (top ten, are you kidding me?), and should do even better once "The Waiting One" comes out as a single. That's going to be an active rock radio monster. Needless to say I gave it a positive write-up for PopMatters.
Over at Hellbound I reviewed the gigantic new DVD/CD extravaganza by Finnish metal greats Amorphis. All the expected accouterments are there: a couple of splendid live sets in their entirety, videos, and a feature-length band documentary, and they're all very good, but what I really dug was hearing singer Tomi Joutsen put his own unique stamp on the songs, new and old. He's easily the best singer/growler the band has ever had, and the band is on a mighty creative roll these days, to boot. It's always cool to see veteran band find a second wind like Amorphis has these last five years.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
On October 30, 1995,, Pulp released Different Class, an album that captured the Britpop zeitgeist in a way that no other band of the era could come close to matching. Coincidentally, it was also my 25th birthday. I'd been obsessing over the landmark single "Common People" over the summer, gradually realizing that this oddly catchy song by this peculiar band (electric violin, Really?) was a work of genius, and sometime in November I spotted the album among the promoted new releases at an HMV, and bought it based on the merits of that one single. Little did I know how much that record would dominate my life over the next 14 months. And nor did I realize Different Class would be the last album I would ever care this much about.
While Pulp's fifth album turned 15 this past weekend, I turned 40. Although I'm not one to whinge on and on about my official entrance into geezerdom on a page like this, the realization that Different Class would be my last great musical love really struck me. The fact is, I just don't make that huge a personal, emotional connection with albums anymore. I'm still capable of moved by new music, I do have a pulse after all. But for the longest time I've still been listening to new music in search of recapturing that feeling I got when I first heard, this record, or Crooked Rain, or Leave Home, or Weld, or Master of Puppets, or Live After Death. Part of it has to do with the sheer volume of new music I listen to; after all it's what I do for a (I guess you'd call) living. Although I always set aside a stack of CDs as personal faves as the year goes on, I don't have the time to obsess over music like I once did. I'm not exaggerating, I listened to Different Class so much in late –'95 through 1996 it was almost on a daily basis. The big reason, though, is simple: without realizing it I've gotten older. I still connect with good new music, but I no longer throw myself so fully into it, I approach it with a lot more perspective.
Looking back over the last ten years there's been plenty of music, new and old, that's significantly altered my taste: Meshuggah's Nothing, Drive-By Truckers' Southern Rock Opera, Opeth's Deliverance, Burzum's Filosofem, Can's Tago Mago, King Crimson's Red, the Cure's Disintegration, Swervedriver's Mezcal Head. And there's sure been the odd record that's packed a real emotional wallop (Alcest's Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde the last one). But nothing after 1995 has even come close to doing what Different Class did to me. Like any all-time fave album, you wind up knowing it so well, inside and out, every note, every word, that as the years go on it's not exactly a necessity that you give the actual thing a listen. So it had actually been quite a while since I spun the CD, and I was actually thrilled to find out that not only does it still sound spectacular, but I enjoy it as much as I did 15 years ago, perhaps even more.
Different Class is not only an incredibly catchy album loaded with anthemic, era-defining singles, but most importantly it's one smart piece of work: satires that eviscerate Jarvis Cocker's targets, brutally introspective songs that drip with loathing, wryly comedic scenarios, and songs so surprisingly endearing that you're floored. Cocker's lyrics on this album are the best such collection I have ever heard. And yeah, it's clear he's inspired by the British social class system, and we shouldn't forget the little play on words in the title, but I've always seen it as a slightly different concept album, more a series of character sketches from the points of view of various London denizens over the course of 24 hours. I was huge into Mike Leigh films in 1995, and Different Class always seemed to me as somewhat of an extension of the stories and themes Leigh was presenting in his own work.
Curiously, the album kicks off on a somewhat middling note, as "Mis-Shapes" is easily the weakest song of the dozen tracks. Built around a tension-building crescendo during the choruses, it's less a song than a simple overture, the one payoff coming midway through when Cocker sings a line that aptly encapsulates Gen-X angst: "We learnt too much at school now we can't help but see that the future that you've got mapped out is nothing much to shout about." "Pencil Skirt" is the first of several of Cocker's more intense compositions; after a couple playful verses accentuated by mischievous plucked strings, from out of nowhere the mood changes completely, as he ditches the light humour for the darkness of reality: " I only come here cause I know it makes you sad yeah. I only do it cause I know you know it's bad. Oh yes I know that it's ugly and it shouldn't be like that oh but it's turning me on." Then there's "Common People", which if you don't know by now, well, you should fix that and listen immediately. Cocker's character sucks in a female acquaintance who wants to see what lower-class life is like by slumming with them ("I took her to a supermarket, I don’t know why but I had to start it somewhere, so it started there. I said 'Pretend you’ve got no money’, but she just laughed and said 'Oh you’re so funny', I said 'Yeah. Well I can’t see anyone else smiling in here.'") only to deliver an impassioned, venomous rant that reduces the object of his desire to the tourist phony that she is: "Everybody hates a tourist, especially one who thinks it’s all such a laugh and the chip stains and grease will come out in the bath. You will never understand how it feels to live your life with no meaning or control and with nowhere left to go. You are amazed that they exist and they burn so bright whilst you can only wonder why."
"Common People" might be the classic single off Different Class, but "I Spy" is its great deep cut. Menacing, intense, and epic in every sense of the word, Cocker's monologue totally smacks of Johnny, the main character in Mike Leigh's Naked, pure, raw anger and lust masking a deep, deep self-loathing that constantly threatens to rise to the surface. "Can't you see a giant walks among you seeing through your petty lives? Do you think I do these things for real? I do these things just so I survive. And you know I will survive. It may look to the untrained eye, I'm sitting on my arse all day, I'm biding time until I take you all on." The tension builds and builds, until Cocker takes off on another rant that lays all his emotional cards on the table: "You see you should take me seriously, very seriously indeed. 'Cos I've been sleeping with your wife for the past 16 weeks, smoking your cigarettes, drinking your brandy, messing up the bed that you chose together. And in all that time I just wanted you to come home unexpectedly one afternoon, and catch us at it in the front room. You see I spy for a living and I specialise in revenge, on taking the things I know will cause you pain. I can't help it, I was dragged up. My favourite parks are car parks, grass is something you smoke, birds are something you shag. Take your 'Year in Provence' and shove it up your ass.' By the time the song ends, though, the anger has long since dissipated, and we're left with a sad, broken wretch who, despite all that rage, desire, and articulateness, knows full well that he will never act on it. Instead, he's as cowardly as anyone else, and is left pitifully singing to himself.
You need a mood-lightener after that, and the album perks up briefly. Famously nicking the riff from Laura Branigan's "Gloria", "Disco 2000" is a whimsical tale of childhood friends planning to meet up in five years' time, boy never telling "Deborah" his true feelings until it's too late, ending with the hilarious line, "What are you doing Sunday baby? Would you like to come and meet me maybe? You can even bring your baby." The Scott Walker-esque ballad "Live Bed Show" tells a sad story of a loveless couple by observing their bed ("It never makes a sound, something beautiful left town and she never even knew its name"). "Something Changed" is one I'm particularly fond of, Cocker's musing about chance and fate, brilliantly echoing Krzysztof Kieslowski's Red, which came out right around the same time, and which I discovered in the summer of 1996 (now one of my very favourite movies). It's not as gorgeous a poem as Wyslawa Symborska's timeless "Love at First Sight", but it achieves a similar effect: " I could have stayed at home and gone to bed. I could have gone to see a film instead. You might have changed your mind and seen your friend. Life could have been very different but then Something changed…When we woke up that morning we had no way of knowing that in a matter of hours we'd change the way we were going. Where would I be now if we'd never met? Would I be singing this song to someone else instead?"
As far as the album's sense of humour goes, it doesn't get any funnier than "Sorted For E's & Wizz", a wonderful, affectionate send-up of rave culture. This particular line kills me: "And this hollow feeling grows and grows and grows and grows, and you want to phone your mother and say 'Mother, I can never come home again 'cos I seem to have left an important part of my brain somewhere, somewhere in a field in Hampshire.'" Mood-wise, the comically titled "F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E." continues where "I Spy" left off, but it's laced with very dry humour, as Cocker takes lovesickness to its extreme: "I've got a slightly sick feeling in my stomach like I'm standing on top of a very high building. Oh yeah, all the stuff they tell you about in the movies, but this isn't chocolate boxes and roses - it's dirtier than that, like some small animal that only comes out at night." "Underwear" is a riotous portrait of an adulterous couple about to be caught in the act (classic line: "If fashion is your trade then when you're naked you must be unemployed"), while "Monday Morning", the album's most underrated track, sees Cocker's protagonist realize that adult life is a heckuvalot more mundane than expected: " now that you're free what are you going to be? And who are you going to see? And where, where will you go and how will you know you didn't get it all wrong? Is this the light of a new day dawning? A future bright that you can walk in? No, it's just another Monday morning." The journey comes to a close with "Bar Italia", the narrator and his companion still out at the crack at dawn, emerging squinting in the bright sunlight, staggering to a café for coffee, the fun of the previous night gone, and in its place harsh reality. "If we get through this alive I'll meet you next week, same place, same time." The cycle continues. Roll credits.
Everything came full circle when I visited the HMV flagship store on Oxford Street in London. I had long balked at paying the huge import price for the expanded deluxe edition of Different Class, but there they had it for a super cheap 14 pounds, so I scooped it up. Sure, the design is marginally gussied-up (glossy digipak, brief liner notes by Cocker), and the bonus CD is missing a crucial track in the 7" version of "Disco 2000" (no worries, I have it on the original single), but if there was a perfect CD to buy in London, it was this one. And as I play it now, those old feelings return. I hate to drag out the tired old wine analogy, but it's true. It's aged beautifully, and it's something I don't necessarily have to binge on like I did in '95/'96, but I sure love to savour it once in a rare while after all these years.
And you know what? Right when I'm wondering if I've gotten too bored with music and writing about music, Something Changes, if you will. The new Killing Joke album is glorious, far, far better on CD than on the horrible promo mp3s. The new Swans album is absolutely spellbinding, shades of Scott Walker's The Drift. New Swedish band Ghost reminds me why I love traditional heavy metal so much. I adore Dungen, and their new CD is as good as anything they've put out. The new Iron Maiden album still makes me smile when I play it. And the astonishing new album by Agalloch is not only their best to date, but far and away the best metal album of 2010, and a leading candidate for my favourite album of 2010 overall. Those little enlightenments, those little Satoris where I realize, wow, this record is something special after all, are the moments I live for as a music writer. In fact tomorrow I'll head out and try to get the excellent, dreamy debut album by Warpaint, and I'll probably browse the CD racks for the bazillionth time...you know, just in case something special leaps out at me from out of nowhere. The cycle continues.
Pulp - "Common People" (Glastonbury, 1995)
Friday, October 8, 2010
As big a fan I am of Broken Social Scene and for all the times I've seen them live, I sometimes need reminding of just how great a band they are live. They simply don't tour Western Canada enough, despite being a very popular band in their home country. The States, Europe, and Toronto always beckons, so it's understandable that it's hard for them to find the time to take the grueling trip out west. But whenever they do come out here, they always play Saskatoon, which they did last night for the first time in almost exactly five years. And just like every other time I've seen them, I come away certain that there is no better Canadian band right now than Broken Social Scene.
Their last show here in 2005, at the tiny Amigos, was glorious, but also marred by bad luck. They were late coming into the city and only managed to get onstage at 12:30 a.m., giving them just an hour and a half to work with. So while the show was wonderful, they had to cut a lot of stuff out of their set on that night. So going into last night's show I was really hoping they'd make up for it somehow, and boy did they ever, playing for 140 minutes non-stop, an epic set in every sense of the word that flew right by, getting a euphoric reaction from the packed Odeon from the get-go, which in turn led to a very spirited performance by the entire band. Lead dude Kevin Drew can be a surly fella onstage, I've seen it firsthand a couple times, but the joy from the crowd was so palpable on this night that he seemed genuinely taken aback, and he returned the sentiment in kind. The usual suspects were present (Drew, Brendan Canning, Andrew Whiteman, Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin), as well as peripheral members Lisa Lobsinger, David French, and Sam Goldberg, and as usual they were trading instruments left and right. But by now they've got all that down to a science, able to quickly make changes between and even during songs...and it was a lot easier for them to do on the big Odeon stage rather than the very cramped quarters at Amigos! And they made full use of the bigger venue, with a terrific, tasteful light show, plus the sound was the best live mix I have heard since Iced Earth a couple years ago.
Set-wise, it was knockout after knockout, as the band reeled off a whopping 24 songs. In fact the only "classic" tune they didn't play was "Almost Crimes". The rest was covered. Highlights for me? Well, the first third of the show was spectacular, loaded with their most joyous rockers. Lobsinger was lovely on Forgiveness Rock Record fave "All to All", it was great to see Mr. Apostle of Hustle Whiteman do "Fire Eye'd Boy", "Art House Director", and "Looks Just Like the Sun", and Canning led the way on "Stars and Sons", my favourite BSS tune. Members of openers the Sea and Cake chipped in on vocals and drums, Drew performed a stripped down "Lover's Spit", and the band tore the house down with "KC Accidental" and "Meet Me in the Basement". Best of all, though, the band pulled out "It's All Gonna Break", the best song off the self-titled record, and one that was cut out of the Amigos set in 2005. And it was as climactic as you'd expect, a ten-plus minute jam that capped off the night wonderfully. After a loosey-goosey "Major Label Debut", that was it, everyone drenched in sweat and heading out into the cool crisp October air, which felt lovely after several hours of oppressive heat.It was not only one of the best shows of the year, but the best Broken Social Scene performance I have seen to date.
Being a metal fan as well I read a lot of comments from Toronto-based metal fans who express such vehement hatred for Broken Social Scene, decrying them and their fans as "hipsters", sick of how they dominate the music headlines in that city. To which I reply, what a bunch of joyless human beings. To paraphrase what one writer once said about the Beatles, to dislike Broken Social Scene is akin to saying you hate the sun for shining. The music is emotional without being cloying, artsy at times but nowhere close to pretentious. And how on earth can a metal fan say bad things about a band who so sincerely embraces arena rock bombast better than most metal bands? But enough of that. I love the darn band, and I sure hope they return here again soon. Like all of Canada's great indie bands, they have always been loved here. Anyway, here's the setlist, which might not be in exact order but is about 90% correct. All the songs are there:
Guilty Cubicles
Superconnected
7/4 Shoreline
World Sick
Texico Bitches
Fire Eye'd Boy
Forced to Love
Stars and Sons
Cause=Time
All to All
Romance to the Grave
Art House Director
Sweetest Kill
Hotel
Anthems For a Seventeen Year-Old Girl
Ungrateful Little Father
KC Accidental
Meet Me in the Basement
Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)
Encore:
Lover's Spit
Looks Just Like the Sun
Water in Hell
It's All Gonna Break
Major Label Debut
It's been a busy couple of days, as on Wednesday night I headed out to Louis' on the university campus to see Holy Fuck, one of my favourite Canadian indie bands, but one who I had never seen live. I was big into their LP album and think their new one Latin is even better. I was in no real mood to waste time seeing opening bands, but I showed up too early anyway, which actually turned out to be a good thing as I came away hugely impressed by Houston band Indian Jewelry. Unlike Broken Social Scene, Indian Jewelry is artsy and VERY pretentious, but in a way I find irresistible. Layers of drone and noise, propulsive, tribal drumming dome Moe Tucker style by a girl, and a pair of singers who chant away indecipherably. Oh, and there's a strobe light constantly going, adding to the whole Velvets vibe. I dug the whole shtick immensely, and hope to explore their albums someday.
As for Holy Fuck, they were unreal in a live setting. The place was about half full (it should have been at Amigos, the atmosphere would have been electric), and the people there were jumping and dancing like mad to their krautrocky jams. I'm a total sucker for motorik beats, which this band has aplenty, but if you're going to do krautrock right you've got to have a phenomenal rhythm section, and Holy Fuck does in Matt McQuaid and Matt Schulz. Those two dudes are tight, which allows Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh to do their abstract noise thing. Unlike Can or Neu!, though, these guys specialize in neat, concise songs, and for all their jamminess, they rarely if ever go past five minutes, which was a big reason the crowd was so absorbed by it all. The band kept changing things up. I can't name all the songs they did, but off the new CD they sis do "1MD", "Red Lights", "Latin America", "Stay Lit", and "SHT MTN". And they did do their "hit" "Lovely Allen", which went over huge. It was a terrific hour-long performance, and I'm very glad I went. What made me like it even more was that their outro music was none other than Can's great "Halleluwah". That had me grinning. I always like coming across other Can fans.
I actually have two new articles that need plugging. Last week I didn't have too much going on aside from coping with jet lag to devastating I was awake no more than ten hours per day, so I decided to get a media pass for the Uproar Festival, which featured the likes of Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour, and others. I went with zero expectations, and while my Hellbound review seems to dwell on the negative (man, I must've been grumpy when I wrote it), I actually had a pretty good time. Only A7X was truly atrocious. What a terrible, obnoxious band. But I enjoyed a good chunk of Disturbed's set, Stone Sour really impressed me (and their new album is really good, something I was not expecting), and a band called Halestorm left me very impressed, enough to pick up their CD for ten bucks. All in all it was a decent way to spend an evening. At least I got a free energy drink out of it...
Over at PopMatters my review of the 20th anniversary edition of Queensryche's Empire has been published. From day one I've had some big, big problems with this album...coming on the heels of three full-lengths that I absolutely adored in the 1980s, Empire was a really weird combination of inspired moments and other instances that had me cringing. I never understood the record's appeal, and in my review I go into detail about why it's always bugged me so much. It's not a bad record, but it's far from a classic, and this reissue is basically for fans only.
I hope to have a full trip recap posted after the weekend...photos have been uploaded, so I just have to buckle down and write!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Finally! Two insane weeks of writing, four weeks of travel, one more week to recover, and I finally have the time to bring this dormant page back to life. The September trip was spectacular, not a thing went wrong, and a wonderful time was had by all...I want to go into greater detail, but I'll save that for the next post. I'd like to get some of the usual housecleaning out of the way first.
It's so weird, I totally missed my Iron Maiden cover story for Decibel magazine...by the time I got back, the new issue had already come out. So there was no basking in glory or anything like that, not surprisingly the magazine was nowhere to be found in the UK (though I did show my little cousin the new issue of Terrorizer with my story on the Sword mentioned on the cover). I didn't even see the thing until I got back a week ago! Anyway, I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Like every other favourite article, this one was really easy to put together. The ones that just fall into place always turn out great. It was hard work, but a thrilling experience that gave me a chance to meet my favourite band of all time. That was my big one, my white whale, and I couldn't be more satisfied. And The Final Frontier continues to sound great to these ears. I haven't tired of it one bit.
I'd also like to note that in the same issue of Decibel I have a little one-page feature on my favourite new band of the summer, Calgary's Mares of Thrace. A couple nights after first hearing their MySpace tracks I went to their show and bought their CD, that night I pitched a story to Decibel, and a couple days later I got the go-ahead. It's funny to think that whole thing was a direct result of my dragging my exhausted self out to Amigos on a Friday night at the last minute when I was in no mood to see a show. They're a couple of swell ladies, and I'm only glad to help spread the word a little. Hopefully they'll come back to Saskatoon before long.
At PopMatters there's a veritable slew of pieces I have yet to mention. As for reviews, there's the somewhat middling collaboration between Boris and Ian Astbury (Astbury did what he does best while Boris really dropped the ball creatively), the new album by Iron Maiden (as if you didn't know what I thought of it already), the wicked reissue of Clutch's From Beale Street to Oblivion, yet another classy power metal effort by Blind Guardian, and the third album by the Sword, which really threw me for a loop by turning out to be so much better than I ever thought it would be. And then there's Enslaved. They've already turned into one of the classiest metal bands in the world these days, but Axioma Ethica Odini truly elevates their game...on one hand it further expands their increasingly progressive rock-minded sound, but on the other it's their most potent, ferocious record in nearly a decade, going for more of a fuller, live sound. Balance that with their ever-improving melodic side, and you've got yourself a real knockout of a record. I don't know why I didn't give it a 9. It really is worthy of a 9. And just so y'all know, I have a big story on Enslaved in the forthcoming issue of Decibel...
My 51st installment of Blood & Thunder was also published, a big interview with Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffmann. He's a super-nice guy, and it was great to talk to him again. A year had passed since he was first telling me about how they had this crazy notion to start writing new songs, and wow, how things can change over a year. They've had a phenomenal 2010 so far, and the reaction to the new album continues to be very positive. And tot think people said they could never replace Udo. Accept has done just that, with dignity and credibility fully intact. If you haven't heard Blood of the Nations, do so at once!
One other reason that I didn't get around to posting again was that I've also been busy going to shows this week. One was on Thursday and I should have a review up at Hellbound shortly, while another was last night, as I caught As I Lay Dying, All That Remains, and Unearth. Yeah, a bill straight out of 2004. Not the most cutting-edge metal out there, but goodness knows it's still popular with the kiddies, and even though I've seen Unearth and As I Lay Dying far too many times to mention, I thought I'd head out and give the headliners one more shot.
I had an unexpected snafu at the door when the girl at the door said my name wasn't on the guest list, but five minutes after calling the ever-wonderful Sarah at Metal Blade, the problem was rectified. Trouble was, this show started to early that I only caught the last to Unearth songs, totally missing the opening set by Carnifex. Not that I care about Carnifex, their music bores me and their name sounds like an ointment. But Unearth was doing their Unearthy thing, putting on a brave face despite being relegated to playing the edge of the Odeon stage like a bunch of local chumps. And to think they were headlining shows like this once upon a time. Either way they seemed as spirited as ever, guitarist Ken Susi providing the usual goofy antics, like appearing at the back of the club with his wireless guitar.
All That Remains, meanwhile, was fantastic. Every time I see them they sound even better, singer Phil Labonte continues to improve in the clean vocal department. They don't bring anything new tot he table whatsoever, but they are a very entertaining live band, and best of all, they've put together a nice back catalogue of catchy songs to draw from. This time around they focused exclusively the last three albums, The Fall of Ideals, Overcome, and the new one For We Are Many, which I've been listening to for the past couple months, which was fine with the crowd, which was going nuts from the very start, singing along at every chance. They went over so huge it was criminal that they weren't headlining, because they sure carried themselves like the headliners. Here's the full setlist:
Now Let Them Tremble
For We Are Many
Six
Forever in Your Hands
Before the Damned
Hold On
Some of the People, All of the Time
Not Alone
This Calling
The Air That I Breathe
Two Weeks
All the while I was wondering, As I Lay Dying has never impressed me live, so how on earth can they play a convincing headlining set of 90 minutes? They've always been earnest, no doubt about that, with a small handful of memorable songs, but despite their energy I'm never wowed by them. I'm always hoping that would change, but sadly my opinion wouldn't change on this night. It didn't help that the mix was horrendous: the drums were horrifically loud, completely drowning out the guitars and giving me a headache in the process. 45 minutes into their set I had already heard their catchiest songs ("Anodyne Sea", "An Ocean Between Us", "Forever"), and the heat in the buiilding was too oppressive to bear for another minute, so I was ready to bolt. Much to my surprise, after "Forever" they played one more song, and that was it. What a cop-out! All those kids came out to see them, shelling out 37 bucks per ticket, and that's all they got. Iron Maiden is twice as old as these pups, and they play for two hours. If I was a fan I'd be disappointed. But seeing that I had already had enough, I welcomed the chance to get some fresh air and head home early. Hopefully All That Remains comes around in a headlining role soon...
I'll post a trip recap as soon as I upload some photos...
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
So sorry for the inactivity here. Trip planning dominated July, and then this month I've been diving head first into my writing, trying to do two months' worth of work in half the time. It's been going really well, but of course when you do something so tiring and time-consuming, the last thing you want to do is spend another couple hours at the computer typing a post here. So I made the sacrifice. But I have a bit of a lull here before the big home stretch, so I might as well take advantage of some free time to do some catching up.
Even on a blog like this I try to avoid being overly self-involved, but I have to say I'm extremely excited about the September UK trip. The itinerary is flabbergasting: three nights in Vancouver (we're flying out of there), eight nights in London, five nights up in the Lake District, three nights in Edinburgh, two nights in York, one night in Liverpool, and one last night back in London. Plans are pretty open too, the only big events etched in stone are the West Ham-Chelsea match at the Boleyn Ground on the 11th (I'm still nervously waiting for my ticket to arrive, knock on wood) and our all-day Beatles tour in Liverpool on the 23rd. The main goal: see old stuff, from the Tower, to Hadrian's Wall, to Old Town, to Roman walls, to the Shambles & Minster. Coming from a place as young as the Canadian prairies, buildings older than 100 years enthrall me. So I'll certainly be getting my fill. Oh, that and trains. Passenger trains don't really exist out west (save for Via Rails tres-expensive cross Canada line), but I took trains a fair bit as a little kid, so I've always harboured a bit of a fondness for them. It'll be geeky fun for sure.
Okay, I should mention some writing that's appeared over the last couple weeks or so. I'll start at PopMatters. Up today is my review of Zoroaster's fine third album, which is a marked improvement over their last two..."DNR" is one of the better metal tracks of the year, with a wickedly cool space rock/psychedelic vibe. Meanwhile, the debut by Brooklyn black metalers Castevet has grown on me to the point where it's a shoo-in for my year-end metal list, an enthralling combination of raw black metal with the post-hardcore sounds of Fugazi. I had ZERO expectations for the new Black Label Society album, but whaddya know, Zakk "pinch squeal" Wylde achieved the unthinkable and put out his best album since the debut...that's right, I recommend Order of the Black. I'm as surprised as you are. And know what's not a surprise? The new Korn album suck-diddly-ucks...I didn't really have to review it, as those who like Korn (ugh, and are there still a lot of them) don't care about reviews and those who hate Korn know they're a joke of a band, but still, I decided to just make sure when the CD arrived in the mail. I listened to it so you wouldn't have to, that's how nice a fella that I am. Lastly, there's In This Moment, a good, honest, hard-working band that gets unfairly slagged far too often...their third album survives a dicey opening track and turns into quite the mainstream metal gem. As long as they keep putting out good records like they are these days, I'll keep defending them.
Meanwhile at Hellbound I had a few cool pieces appear. A couple of Fridays ago I went to see talented Calgary band Mares of Thrace again...since we last met I was able to get them a story in next month's issue of Decibel, and on this night not only did the ladies absolutely slay, but I was gobsmacked when they thanked me before playing their last song. I'd never gotten an onstage shout-out like that before, so that was a cool moment. Anyway, they needed a little publicity before they headed out east, so I got Decibel's permission and published my July interview in its entirety over at Hellbound. So give it a read and give their tunes a listen, they're one of the most promising heavy bands in Canada right now.
Also at Hellbound I have reviews of a very cool live rarity by cult band Manilla Road,m as well as the rather controversial new album by Blood Revolt, a collaboration between members of Alberta band Axis of Advance and Primordial vocalist Alan Averill. It was unfairly slagged in Decibel and by others who expected something a little more Primordial-ish, but I think it's a fascinating blend of bare-bones black metal and rock opera. It's a bit of a mess, but one that captivates me. Plus the drumming is flat-out insane.
In music writer land it's getting really close to the end of the year as far as new releases go, so it's crunch time as I try to hear as many 2010 records before the call goes out for our year-end ballots in late September/early October. And as of late I have heard a bevy of cool new metal albums. Right at the top is Enslaved's Axioma Ethica Odini, which is not only as reliably good as all their other albums have been, but they've elevated their game so much on this one I see it as a legitimate contender for my metal album of the year title. Then there's the Sword's Warp Riders, which makes improvements on all the stuff that bugged me about that band: better songwriting, less lazy reliance on doom, and stronger singing...a shockingly good album. Kylesa's Spiral Shadow, meanwhile, is a real departure, as they've pretty much ditched the sludge for a 90s indie rock sound (think Built to Spill and Sugar), with strong emphasis on vocal melodies and strong dual drumming...purists won't like, but I sure do. Meanwhile, For We Are Many, the new one by metalcore faves All That Remains is shockingly devoid of the crossover singles that the last two albums had in spades...I'm going to have to give it more time because there isn't much on there that's grabbing me right now. The new one by Swedish death metal dudes the Crown is a brilliant one, probably the best death metal album I have heard all year. Meanwhile, the much-anticipated comeback album by 80s thrashers Forbidden is very good, but also a little on the bloated side.
And don't forget, today is Maiden Day! Be sure to pick up your copy of The Final Frontier...it is a great album, one that keeps getting better the more I hear it.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Big news on the personal front, as I'll be off to England in September for three weeks for my first honest-to-goodness holiday in eight years. It's going to be a gigantic rail loop around and across the island, the two major destinations being London (for obvious reasons) and the Lake District, where my family (Mom's side) has deep roots. I had a bit of an Anglophile upbringing as a kid (I obsessively read comics like the Beano, Dandy, and the Topper between the ages of seven and 12) not to mention later in life, so I'm really going to enjoy this trip to the fullest. Anyway, trip planning along with the music writing is taking up all of my time these days, hence the lack of posts here. But plenty of stuff has happened that's worth mentioning, so here we go...
As I mentioned last month, I'm a big fan of the band Across Tundras, and their new album Old World Wanderer is another good one. Unlike their last album, which was decidedly lo-fi and understated, they crank things up considerably on the new CD, channeling both Neurosis and Crazy Horse, a big guitar record that's made all the more effective by the way the band so accurately evokes the expansiveness and the desolation of the Great Plains. There aren't many bands that do that well. Anyway, my review is up today, and if it piques your interest, do yourself (and the band) a favour and get the album. It's worth it.
On a completely different note, there's the new one by Soilwork. I always gravitate towards this sort of stuff, I love metal that's as hook-oriented as it is aggressive, but for the longest time Soilwork has merely been "good but not great" in my opinion. I always like their albums, but I can't call myself a real fan. Well, The Panic Broadcast is not only their best album is a very long time, around eight years, but I'd even go as far to say that it's their best one to date. Perhaps the return of founding guitarist Peter Wichers lit a fire under these guys, because they sound more impassioned than ever, and these songs simply kill, whether it's the scorching "Late For the Kill, Early For the Slaughter" or more controlled fare like "Let This River Flow". This album's all about vocalist Bjorn "Speed" Strid, who dominates with his extremely effective barks and growls as well as his very strong melodic singing. I don't think I've enjoyed a Gothenburg-inspired mainstream metal album this much since All That Remains' The Fall of Ideals. Here's my review.
Watain's fourth album was very high on peoples' "most anticipated of 2010" lists for good reason, as the Swedish band has steadily risen in stature thanks to a series of albums that knocked listeners out each time. With the big time now within their grasp, they left underground giant the AJNA Offensive for the global clout of Season of Mist (what a roster they've assembled these last couple years), so it's no surprise the Watain you hear on Lawless darkness is a cleaner, more accessible version of the band. Of course "accessible" is all relative, as this stuff is still very blastbeat-heavy, enough to take non-metal listeners aback, but compared to other near-masterpieces like Casus Luciferi and Sworn to the Dark, the new album almost feels too spit-and-polished. And when I say that, Mr. Total Sucker For Bruckheimer Metal, that's something worth taking note of. Not that this is a bad album, it's anything but. In fact at times it's often great. But although the guitar melodies are exceptional, the ambiance, the atmosphere just isn't there. It often feels sterile. And don't get me started on the lyrics...their Satan shtick has always been a bit comical, but there's a cartooniness to the lyrics on this album that comes close to approaching the ludicrousness of Dimmu Borgir. Satanic lyrics have no impact or shock value anymore. And don't get me started on Erik Danielsson's "me so scary" bit. Still, despite all of that I nevertheless give Lawless Darkness a hearty recommendation. The songs are good (the 14 minute "Waters of Ain" could be the best thing they've ever done), the artwork is stunning (do yourself a favour and get the digipak before it goes out of print), and it's never tedious. Eeevil Mr. E might wince at the notion, but this album is good fun. Here's my review.
Lastly, I have a review of the new Classic Albums DVD about the making of Black Sabbath's Paranoid. I've long enjoyed the TV series, it's a lot more tasteful than something like Behind the Music, simply letting the band and producers tell the story behind a particular seminal album, and this 90+ minute DVD delivers in every respect. I was amazed at how illuminating it was. Plus, it's fantastic to see all four members actively participating. Ozzy tells good stories, while Iommi steals the show with his close-up demonstrations of his classic riffs from the record. If you're a Sabbath fan or just a nerd who likes to learn about what went into classic records, I guarantee you'll get a big kick out of this DVD.
Could the new Arcade Fire album be more boring? Suburbs is bland dad rock and tepid orch pop, and no more. It really goes to show just how well they caught lightning in a bottle with Funeral, because this new album completely lacks any similar spark whatsoever. Neon Bible was a step down, but this is a colossal disappointment.
Know what's not a disappointment? The new album by Best Coast. People keep mentioning 60s pop and surf rock influences, which are obviously appropriate, but Bethany Cosentino reminds of the charming Barbara Manning (namely her work with SF Seals), who I was into back in the early 90s. Great pop rock songs, a little lo-fi, but not flaunting it like Wavves does. I can see this growing on me as the year goes on.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Last Friday the brand new issue of France's Metallian magazine arrived, so it was cool to see my piece on Iron Maiden in print. In French, might I add. It turned out really well, unlike the album review in the same issue, the factual error in which will haunt me to my grave. Oh well. C'est la guerre. I really enjoyed contributing to the mag, they're good folks who run everything ultra-professionally (prompt payment make freelancer happy!), and I'd sure like to work with them again.
Anyway, by the time you read this the cool new video for Iron Maiden's "The Final Frontier" will have premiered and put the metal world into a collective tizzy. So I figured since that's happened, the gag order expired a week ago, and some dummies are already blurting out their own reports, I might as well pop in with my own two cents.
The Final Frontier is good. Very good. I've been listening to Maiden for 26 years, and I know a good or bad Maiden album when I hear it. And based on the listens I had, my initial reaction is to rank it alongside Brave New World. Not necessarily a reinvention, but a reassertion of just how driven and inspired the band continues to sound eleven years after Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith returned to the fold. At 76 minutes, there's a whole heckuvalot to digest, but this isn't a case like Metallica where they use the 79 minute running time of a CD as an excuse to egotistically cram whatever subpar material they can using the excuse that they want to "give their fans as much as possible." These ten songs hold up, or at least it feels like they will upon further listens. Each one is memorable.
I like how the album is sequenced. After the absolutely insane intro "Satellite 15", which is the heaviest piece of music Iron Maiden has ever put on record, the first few songs settle into a very strong 70s hard rock groove. Not surprisingly, Adrian Smith is behind these catchy riffs, and he and Steve Harris unapologetically admit the heavy UFO and Thin Lizzy influences they had fun exploring. "The Final Frontier", as you probably know by now, is a great little tune, a fantastic way to kick off the album, and "El Dorado" is a solid galloper that's already turned into an exceptional live song. "Mother of Mercy" is darker but still just as concise (with a very catchy chorus, it still buzzes in my head), while "Coming Home" slows things down just a touch, and while it's not exactly a ballad, it's still a wistful look back at the Flight 666 tour, Dickinson's lyrics inspired by his view from the cockpit of the big plane.
After the John Dee-inspired "The Alchemist" (probably the weakest or plainest song on the album), things really get interesting. Songs get longer, more labyrinthine, a little more experimental. "Isle of Avalon" is wickedly good, highlighted by a theatrical crescendo, dissonant guitars that add tension, a cool break led by Harris, and the best guitar solos ont he album. "Starblind" revisits the synth-infused sounds of Somewhere in Time and is led by a pwerhouse performance by Dickinson. "The Talisman" is quintessential Maiden, the one songs that pushes all the buttons that fans have grown accustomed to: slow build, explosive tempo change, big chorus. Formulaic, but unlike some past songs, it doesn't feel tired. You can tell "The Man Who Would Be King" came from a Dave Murray idea, you can tell those melodies of his from a mile away. The biggest surprise is saved for last, as "When the Wild Wind Blows" is an eleven minute Steve Harris epic, but not in the vein of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" or "Sign of the Cross". Over the years Harris's solo songwriting has tended to wear on me. The fact is, he can get predictable, and in our interview he admitted that...on a Harris song, you always know what's coming next, he's been using the same template since "Alexander the Great" or even earlier. So "Where the Wild Wind Blows" comes across as a bit of a shock, because for once Harris bucks the trend completely with a song that's more understated than grandiose. It's built around a very simple yet memorable melody, but while it does build up here and there, it never bursts into those gallops we expect, instead keeping the same controlled pace. Dickinson follows suit, too, his singing not over the top, instead much more disciplined, Harris's lyrics an elegiac character sketch that touches on severe paranoia. It closes the album on a very melancholy note rather than a big final flourish.
I'd like to hear the album again just to see how it holds up, but like you, I have to wait until August 17th. Aside from a couple of listening sessions, that's it as far as advance music goes, there won't be any promo copies serviced in an effort to protect their product, so I wouldn't expect this album to leak at all, the security is that tight. But at the very least I can say that a little over a month from now, the wait will have definitely been worth it.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The Best Album of the Year So Far:
Nachtmystium - Addicts: Black Meddle Part 2
2010 has been a funny year so far. A lot of decent, a fair bit of very good, but few real knockouts so far. If you told me to name the Biggest Singular Artistic Achievement in Music so far this year, I'd be hard-pressed to find anything that deserved mention. But ask me what my favourite album of the year so far is, it's a pretty easy choice. Nachtmystium's new album is not without its flaws. It's a total hodgepodge of styles, much more scattershot than the comparatively mannered Assassins, plus the lyrics are decidedly clunky and it has one of the silliest intros you'll ever hear. But darnit, this album is fun. I love its eccentricity...in the first four songs alone you've got a straight-up black metal tune ("High on Hate"), a Queens of the Stone Age-style rocker ("Nightfall"), a metallic dance tune that gleefully rrips off Killing Joke ("No Funeral"), and a languid space rock jam ("Then Fires"). And the album simply continues in that direction, in that there's no direction at all. Blake Judd is in total experimentation mode, not caring who he alienates, and it's resulted in his most exuberant work yet. Is he a visionary? Not at all. But like any other music fan, he's discovering a lot of cool music outside extreme metal, and he's having a blast tinkering with those sounds, basically throwing everythnig at the wall to see if it sticks. And quite unbelievably, pretty much everything on this album sticks. And I love it.
As I always do, here are some more leading contenders for my year-end top twenty, in alphabetical order. For economy's sake, I've narrowed it down to a Saskatchewan dozen (Grey Cup reference...too soon?):
Alcest - Ecailles de Lune
Neige has done it again. Everything that guy does knocks me out every time, and Alcest's second full-length is a more graceful combination of shoegaze, dreampop, and metal than ever before. An achingly pretty, entrancing album, but not without its darker moments.
The Besnard Lakes - Are the Roaring Night
An easy choice for my 2010 Polaris Prize ballot, their third album is the best non-metal album I've heard this year so far. Dreamy and atmospheric, but never afraid to crank up the volume every once in a while. Those dramatic crescendos always lead up to some wondrous sonic explosions.
Drive-By Truckers - The Big To-Do
I was hoping the DBT would rebound with a more consistent album, and they did just that with a robust, focused effort. Technically it's more of the same, but with this band that'll make me happy every time, and all three songwriters come through with some excellent tunes.
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
Talk about a grower. I knew nothnig about FlyLo until this year, and when I curiously gave it a sample, I could make neither heads nor tails of it. Which oddly enough was thrilling. It sounds like nothing else you'll hear, a weird mish-mash of dubstep, funk, hip hop, jazz, and the kooky experimental bent of Can, It's one of those records where you'll hear somethnig new each time you listen to it.
Goldfrapp - Head First
A lot of people didn't know what to make of Goldfrapp's foray into 80s synth pop, but I think it's some very clever stuff, in which the duo embrace Olivia Newton John and Giorgio Moroder and show acts like La Roux, Little Boots, and Uffie just how it's done. Classy, graceful, and positively exploding with hooks aplenty.
High on Fire - Snakes For the Divine
High on Fire's ascent has been gradual, but with their fifth album they proved they're ready to become one of the biggest acts in American metal. It conquers, simple as that, ditching sludge for classic metal riffing, leader Matt Pike turning in his best vocal performance to date. This sucker is undeniable.
Kvelertak - Kvelertak
Easily the biggest surprise in metal this year, this Norwegian band came out of nowhere with a psychotic blend of progressive metal and hardcore that turns out to be the the grooviest heavy album you'll come across. It's proficient, has attitude up the wazoo, and it a total freakin' blast. Even though we have no idea what they're singing about.
Ratt - Infestation
I did not see this coming. The aging Sunset Strip rockers, some 24 years removed from their last good album, have staged an astonishing comeback with an album that marks a return to the sound that made them huge in the mid-80s. They absolutely NAIL it, the songs are fabulous...and it's the one CD I've spun the most this year by a mile.
Sabbath Assembly - Restored to One
A straight-faced interpretation of a religious cult's hymnal, this album has been knocking me out as of late. The psychedelic rock arrangements, mixed with Jex Thoth's utterly convincing delivery of the Process Church's Satan-meets-Jehovah rhetoric is jarring, affecting, and pretty darn creepy to boot. Mesmerizing.
Sleigh Bells - Treats
A former member of a terrible hardcore band and a former member of a terrible 90s girl group have put together an obnoxious album of noise, riffs, monster Def Jam beats, and school rhyme jibberish that starts out sounding totally obnoxious, but soon the clouds part and you realize that this is the most fun indie rock has sounded in eons.
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
A concept album about the Civil war by a band that loves to rip off the Replacements, Springsteen, and 90s shoegaze equally? Sure, why not? This is a mighty fine rock 'n' roll album, its pretentiousness outweighed by the band's earnestness. Plus "A More Perfect Union" is one of the rock anthems of the year.
Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones
Tom Fischer's new band continues exactly where Celtic frost's final album left off. Which essentially means it's awesome.Dark, monumental, and deliciously blasphemous, it's yet another statement by an artist enjoying a career rebirth after bring dormant for far too long.
Yakuza - Of Seismic Consequence
Weirdly enough, there's been a lot of saxophone in metal this year, but Yakuza's fourth album is the best of the lot, and in fact the band's best album to date as well, a perfect balance of aggression and introspection, neither side ever coming off as contrived. I knew Yakuza had a great album in them, and they sure delivered.
Lastly, here are my ten favourite singles of the first half of 2009:
1. Robyn - "Dancing on My Own" (video)
2. Titus Andronicus - "A More Perfect Union" (video)
3. Ratt - "Best of Me" (video)
4. Kate Nash - "Doo Wah Doo" (video)
5. Black Mountain - "Old Fangs" (video)
6. Delorean - "Stay Close" (mp3)
7. Goldfrapp - "Rocket" (video)
8. Sambassadeur - "I Can Try" (video)
9. Broken Social Scene - "World Sick" (video)
10. Hannah Georgas - "Bang Bang You're Dead" (video)
Monday, July 5, 2010
Lots and lots of stuff to cover today, so here we go...
First off, review-wise my piece on the excellent new Melvins album finally appeared at PopMatters, more than a month after I'd written the thing. But better late than never, because The Bride Screamed Murder is a great little album. wait, what am I saying...little? Nah, this thing is gargantuan. I'm a huge, huge fan of the current Melvins-meets-Big-Business incarnation of the band, the dual drums suiting this band perfectly, and the expanded lineup has also resulted in some of the most daring and genuinely fun music the band has put out in a long, long time. I loved (A) Senile Animal but thought Nude With Boots played it a little too safe. The same cannot be said for the new CD, though, as it's loaded with insane moments, the nuttiest of which being the raucous, truly weird opening track "The Water Glass", which devolves from a cool stoner jam into some inexplicable military cadence-meets-Adam Ant loopiness that pulls the rug out from under you. From the ferocity of the aptly titled "Evil New War God", to the sludgy reading of the Who's "My Generation", to the surprisingly tender interpretations of a Canadian folk song on "PG x 3", this album, to use a hackneyed phrase, delivers. It's a blast, and is mandatory listening for 2010, that's for sure. And personally, I'm amazed that both Pitchfork and Decibel are down on this fine, fine record. It's baffling.
At Hellbound, to celebrate Canada Day we had a gigantic tribute to Rush, and being a huge Rush nerd, of course I participated! I wrote a big ol' review of Behind the Lighted Stage, which along with Cannibal Corpse's Centuries of Torment is the best heavy rock band documentary ever made, and if you haven't seen it yet, by all means do so at once. The DVD's pretty cheap, too. I also wrote pieces about my favourite Rush album (Grace Under Pressure) and favourite Rush song ("Subdivisions"). It's also really cool to see what all my fellow writers at Hellbound have chosen as their faves...we all have our own unique reasons, and in the end, there are really no wrong choices. Rush is one of those few bands I never tire of writing about...it's hard to explain, I have such an interest in so many details about the band's storied and diverse career that there are always new angles to take.
Another band I never, ever tire of writing about, of course, is Iron Maiden. And goodness knows that declaration has been put to the test this past month. But although I'm about 500 words away from finishing my gigantic cover story for Decibel, I could still go on and on. If they wanted 12,000 words instead of 5,000 I could have pulled that off easily (I have so many good unused quotes it's painful!). My review for France's Metallian magazine has indeed surfaced, although it does have an egregious factual error that for a longtime fan like myself is inexcusable, and I've been beating myself up all weekend for it. You don't even have to know French to see it. Argh. Anyway, it's still cool to see, and I do know my feature on the band turned out great. I hope to get the new issue right away. In addition, that story will also appear in the new EMP mail order catalog in France this summer as well. Hey, I'll take it, anything to get my name out there even more.
If that's not enough, I wrote a big review of Maiden's show here in Saskatoon last Tuesday. Now that was a crazy time. My review touches on it, but here's a more detailed explanation...I had two floor tickets already, but wound up getting an additional pass arranged by Live Nation and Universal because I was doing the Decibel story, so I thought great, I'll give the extra ticket to my sister, because I've always wanted to take her to a huge metal show, and what better one to see than the greatest metal band on the planet? So we headed out to Credit Union Centre nice and early, getting there at about 6:00. They had an outdoor merch tent set up, which was brilliant, because I was able to quickly get my long-coveted Maiden football jersey (I got the claret one, which is a gorgeous colour), and after that was taken care of, I went to get my third ticket at willcall. Only they essentially said, "You're not on the list, go away freeloader guy." I was indignant, I had two confirmation emails saying otherwise, but stupid me, I forgot to print them out. Luckily my brother has an iPhone thingy and was able to pull up said emails and show them. No dice, they said forget it. Go away. So I went a little further, calling my buddy at Live Nation in LA, and he said, "Hold on, let me make a few calls." Five minutes later, the ticket staff were suddenly going, "Oh look, we do have your name on the guest list after all!" You don't say. So that was nice to actually stand my ground and have things work out in the end. Plus my sister thought that was pretty awesome, seeing the rude staffers put in their place like that.
But the headaches weren't over just yet. We gave my sister the extra ticket, and she went right in, but or us, who had "paperless" tickets, we had to go back in line. A really, really, really big line. The venue only had a few credit card scanners to take care of several thousand people, and by the time the guest list snafu was rectified we wound up way, way, way back at the end. It was not 7:00, and there was no hope we'd get in to see Dream Theater's opening set. At willcall I saw a lot of upset people whose cards wouldn't scan, and while talking about the ineptness of the venue I said, "You should have seen all the people who were told to go to the ticket office after their cards wouldn't scan." My brother said, "Wait a minute, why don't I just do that?" He ran back to willcall, said his new credit card wouldn't read (which was a legitimate fear as his old card was recently stolen), and whaddya know, they immediately printed out the two tickets for us. So we were able to run past hundreds of people and get in not five minutes before the show started.
Things were falling into place so perfectly, it was nuts. My sister's comped seat was incredible, three rows up about three sections away from the stage, just a flawless view. I usually prefer floor tix so I can move around from location to location, but I liked that vantage point so much I decided to stay in the seat beside her until someone kicked me out. Only nobody did...how lucky is that? And if that wasn't enough, my brother, who managed to wriggle his way to the barrier, got one of Nicko McBrain's drumsticks at the end of the show. The metal gods were smiling on us that night.
As for the show, like my review says, it was incredible. Every time I see Iron Maiden, it seems the show's even better than the previous one. 2009's show was very special because they played all the classic songs from my own era in the mid-80s, but it was just as great to see them play so many newer songs on this night. And amazingly, the crowd was into it from start to finish as well. They're a phenomenal live band and their recent albums have all been excellent, so those new songs do hold up in a live setting. It was a fabulous, thrilling show, and if it's the last time I ever see Maiden, I'll be thankful I got to see a show as flawless as this one was. Here's the setlist:
The Wicker Man
Ghost Of The Navigator
Wrathchild
El Dorado
Dance Of Death
The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
These Colours Don't Run
Blood Brothers
Wildest Dreams
No More Lies
Brave New World
Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden
Encore:
The Number Of The Beast
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Running Free
Normally this is the time when I list my favourite albums and singles of the year so far, but I'll be posting that tomorrow. I promise!!!
