Fred Durst noticed Cold on the local scene in their hometown Jacksonville. Fred invited the band to record a demo and pass the recording to producer Ross Robinson who take them over and get them a deal with A&M Records. At the bottom line, Cold had two gold-albums and has sold over one million records. They break up in 2006, but reunited two years later and “Superfiction” is their first new album since 2005’s “A Different Kind of Pain”.
12 tracks, kind of mediocre post-grunge/alternative rock mixture, they have a very few better moments, a couple of catchy riffs and some good choruses, but still, it’s thin for 2011 and not quite exciting generally speaking. Read more Cold – Superfiction (2011)
post rock
Sankt Otten – Gottes Synthesizer (2011)
In the manner of Klaus Schulze/Tangerine Dream and in the best tradition of Neu! with dark electro textures and Krautrock resonances, Sankt Otten, the duo from Osnabrück, Germany formed by Stephan Otten (drums, keys, programming) and Oliver Klemm (guitar, keys), in 1998, delivered a new trip into the warm analogue sounds, sequencer lines and electric drums of the 70s and 80s, but still breathing alive, looking into the future.
Especially the title track, “Gottes Synthesizer”, over 13 minutes, is a brilliant piece with tunes that re-call Robert Fripp. Read more Sankt Otten – Gottes Synthesizer (2011)
Treehorn – Hearth (2011)
Eight tracks, forty minutes of weighty, musculous rock, balancing between stoner / Southern rock and post-hardcore / post-grunge elements.
Formed in 2008 and playing gigs around in Italy and France, in April 2011 they release their first full length album, “Hearth”, produced by Escape From Today Records and Riff Records (Italy), and A Tant Rever Du Roi and Swarm Records (France). The album was recorded at Blue Record Studio in Mondovi (CN), by Massimiliano Moccia, sound engineer of Uzeda, Three Second Kiss, Fuh and Dead Elephant among others; the master session has been done by Bob Weston (Shellac) at his Chicago Mastering Studios. Read more Treehorn – Hearth (2011)
Free releases. Mr. Pan[k]sament
I have in mind lots of shit such as: “Money, money, money, must be funny in the rich man’s world”, “Now look at them yo-yo’s that’s the way you do it, you play the guitar on the MTV, that ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it, money for nothin’ and chicks for free”, “Money don’t matter tonight, it sure didn’t matter yesterday, just when you think you’ve got more than enough, that’s when it all up and flies away” or “Money – it’s a gas, grab that cash with both hands and make a stash, new car, caviar, four star daydream, think I’ll buy me a football team”… Get the point, don’t ya?
As I said and repeat not for once, everybody sings, nobody listen anymore. And well, with this downfall of the global markets and this over-saturated music scene, actually nobody gives a shit anymore about anybody. So, all my releases are available for free download. Read more Free releases. Mr. Pan[k]sament
Nox – Freaks (2011)
Don’t misunderstand me: this is a pretty cool material. But why “Nox” – the Latin word for “night” – ? There’s a pretty famous Hungarian Pop band using this name,a Death Metal horde from Netherlands, although they were formerly known as Centurian and it seems they shift back to this moniker in 2010 – use/share the same name. And it’s pretty annoying. On a market over-saturated as the music market are, your name is your brand and musicians – artist – I expect to be more inspired, creative, conscious and careful when they pick up their name. Not to mention the possible legal issues and other inconveniences. Actually, it was pretty hard to dig them out on the internet… Others may not bother that much.
Nox (trio) comes from Brussels, Belgium and it’s the project involving Catherine Graindorge – who also plays violin in Monsoon, Elie Rabinovitch – drums and David Christophe – bass. Read more Nox – Freaks (2011)
City Of Ships – Minor World (2011)
As everybody else, they denying any emo connection, but still, this is a gloomy, quite depressing rock, name it as you wish. And if you never had suicidal thoughts, this music might help. 😀
The first five tracks of their new album are almost identical, noisy, contorted, sometimes even chaotic post-hardcore which in particular moments reminds me of the Sonic Youth in the 80s. Well, my ass is pretty old, but I’m not a nostalgic freak or something, but at least back than most of the bands did their own shit…
Juggling between emocore, post-hardcore and post-rock with a dirty, garage-like sound, City Of Ships delivering intense and dark rock constructions and contortions. Read more City Of Ships – Minor World (2011)
Splinn – Becoming Ourselves (2011)
Indie is a shortform of “independence”. Someway, independence means to be yourself as well.
Music of any genre can be labeled “indie” considering that is independent of major producers and record labels. Indie rock – for instance – is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, grunge, riot grrl, emo,shoegaze, etc, being a sub-genre of alternative rock. Looking back to the bands originally labeled alternative rock we find artist such as R.E.M., The Cure, Jane’s Addiction, Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Muse, etc, bands with their own style, sound and character. Even if we’re looking back to the dawn of the grunge era, the first bands of breakthrough – Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains and Soundgarden – were totally different. Nowadays, unfortunately, indie became synonym with faceless, tasteless, undefined, radio-friendly music. Music? Well, I don’t think so… On the other hand I strongly believe: everybody singing, nobody listening (care and buy). The major labels try to exploit every cash-in possibilities, and while the market visibly restraining, they still over bidding with dumping politics. A Dead Kennedys lyrics from 1985 still haunting me: “The joy and hope of an alternative / Have become its own cliche / A hairstyle’s not a lifestyle / Imagine Sid Vicious at 35 / Who needs a scene / Scared to love and to feel / Judging everything / By loud fast rules appeal / Who played last night? / “I don’t know, I forgot. / But diving off the stage Was a lot of fun.” – and the conclusion is obvious: :”Harder core than thou for a year or two / Then it’s time to get a real job”… Read more Splinn – Becoming Ourselves (2011)
OneLegMan – The Crack (2011)
OneLegMan works almost surgically clean with pounding drums, pumping basses, cutting edge riffs and powerful vocals delivering straight, striking at first, extremely groovy rock/metal. “The Crack” reminds me of Helmet back in 1992 when they released “Meantime”, while OneLegMan sounds fresh and powerful, precise and catchy. Their nine songs juggling smoothly between approaches and genres, from Southern Rock to Groove Metal and from classy Heavy Metal to Post Hardcore and Grunge, but staying focused always to being hard as rock and groovy. It’s almost like a costume ball, which every song they dressed up differently, but there’s all along something very OneLegMan, they managed to leave their own trademark all over.
The band was formed in 2003 in Reggio, Italy, by four talented musicians using alias: CHUPACABRA – vocals, CHICKEN BREAST – guitars, LOW PRESSURE – bass and DR. MASTERMIND – drums. They released a highly acclaimed self-produced demo album in 2007 and they was the opening act for Deep Purple in Italy. Read more OneLegMan – The Crack (2011)
Ed Wood Jr – Ruban de Mobius (2010)
Edward Davis Wood, Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978), better known as Ed Wood was an American screenwriter, director, producer, actor, author, and editor, who often performed many of these functions simultaneously. In the 1950s, Wood made a number of cheap genre films, now enjoyed for their technical errors, unsophisticated special effects, large amounts of ill-fitting stock footage, idiosyncratic dialogue, eccentric casts and outlandish plot elements. Wood’s popularity waned soon after his biggest name star, Bela Lugosi, died, toward the end of his life, Wood made pornographic movies and wrote pulp crime, horror, and sex novels. Some of his most famous movies are “Glen or Glenda”, “Jail Bait”, “Bride of the Monster”, and “Plan 9 from Outer Space”.
In 2008, at Lille, France, Olivier Desmulliez – guitar, keyboard and samples & Thibault Doutriaux – drums started their project named Ed Wood Jr and released fastly their first self-titled EP, inspired by artists such as Don Caballero, Battles or bands like From Monument To Masses. Read more Ed Wood Jr – Ruban de Mobius (2010)
Black Jet Radio – Sex Sex Riot (2011)
It might sounds “dusty”, but this is absolutely straight, dirty, garage rock and raw as it is, no polish needed, this is only (“ugly”) rock’n’roll with roots both back to glam and punk rock.
Formed at Fort Wayne, Indiana, by guitarist and bass player Brian Jenkins of The Sacred Broncos and singer Danisha Jenkins. They recruited Shelby Siefring of Thunderhawk to work on drums and Danielle Teagarden on bass and guitar. Some of their first tracks, “Dead Wine” and “Ugly” brought to mind a Blondie meets The New York Dolls kind of approach mixed with Cabaret inspired vocals.
Singed to Riot House Records, their debut full-length album, “Sex Sex Riot” hits the stores in May 2011. Read more Black Jet Radio – Sex Sex Riot (2011)
