Although “Lingua Franca” is their debut album, it would be a mistake to think this is a new band. True, the project were started last summer when Adrián Terrazas-González was introduced to Tosin Abasi, but a band made of exclusively well knowned and appreciated musicians like this definitively exclude the suspicion of some beginners. Terrazas (Saxophone, Flute, Bass Clarinet, Percussion) might be familiar from bands such as The Mars Volta, Omar Rodríguez-López, Troker, etc. Javier Reyes and Tosin Abasi both are famous by their leading progressive metal band Animals As Leaders, while Eric Moore since 2008 is the drummer both for Suicidal Tendencies and Infectious Grooves. Read more T.R.A.M. – Lingua Franca (2012)
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Semargl – Satanic Pop Metal (2012)
Rammstein fans will be definitively delighted, although the story is quite different, this band from Kiev, Ukraine, formed in 1997, grew up from black and death metal roots.
“Satanic Pop Metal” it’s a merging of genres, black’n’roll, death and industrial metal are melted into one and bring back to life, reminds me also of Debauchery’s last album “Germany’s Next Death Metal“, only that Semargl use more intensely, Rammstein likely the synthesizers. Pumping and pounding, heavy, but melodious and catchy, still cutting and intense, Semargl delivered a bloody brutal and modern metal album. Can downlload some of their track for free – including “Tak, Kurwa (Yes Bitch)” – from their MySpace , Facebook and their official web page. Read more Semargl – Satanic Pop Metal (2012)
Venetian Snares – Affectionate (2012)
Four tracks, five bucks, more than fair enough, released on 11 January 2012, on Aaron’s birthday, now 37 years old, Happy Birthday dude, job well done!
More mature, still glitching and delivering noises, but building up intelligent layers and creating moods by melodies and harmonics, Aaron Funk – aka. Venetian Snares – now seems to focusing more on expression then instinct, relaying more on subtle structures then raging noises.
Funk debuted on a record label in 1999 with the 12″ vinyl EP, “Greg Hates Car Culture” and up until 2007, he was very prolific, releasing as many as eight recordings a year. Prefer to call his own style “Surrealism” rather then “eclecticism” – regarding the mixture of different genres, Aaron’s music evolved and the IDM, EBM elements seems to gain lately dominant position while the Drum & Bass, Noise and Breakcore elements are still present and giving life and cutting edge to his creations. Read more Venetian Snares – Affectionate (2012)
Knives Out! – Black Mass Hysteria (2012)
Featuring honorable members of Hellyeah, Nothingface, Dog Fashion Disco and Polkadot Cadaver, five friends, in 2008, in their hometown of Baltimore came together and form Knives Out! As they declare on their MySpace page: “it isn’t pretty and it isn’t safe. In a world of copy cat bands KNIVES OUT! stands up to deliver to the world a breath of fresh air to a stagnant, plagiaristic genre. Go hard or go home…horns up and KNIVES OUT!”
Imagine a deadly collision between Ministry and Tool with addition of some contorted groove metal riffs and 100% bad ass metal attitude, eventually think of Slipknot jamming with Down or settling down in a little more traditional area of metal, but still staying bold as… f*ck. Read more Knives Out! – Black Mass Hysteria (2012)
Robert Glasper Experiment – Black Radio (2012) and remix contest!
“Real music is crash protected,” state the liner notes of “Black Radio”, the newest album by the Robert Glasper Experiment that boldly stakes out new musical territory and transcends any notion of genre, drawing from jazz, hip-hop, R&B and rock, but refusing to be pinned down by any one tag. And pushing further the experiment, “Move Love” featuring the soul trio KING, drummer Chris Dave, bassist Derrick Hodge, multi-instrumentalist Casey Benjamin, was set for remix at Indaba Music.
I bring up my noisy, dubstep flavored synths, some tensioned jazz bass and severe cellos, asked a favor to a brilliant drummer, Thomas O’Brien, and delivered a quite different version of this song working exclusively with Robert Glasper piano track and the vocal track. I’m quite pleased by the result, this is definitively a genre-defying remix. Read more Robert Glasper Experiment – Black Radio (2012) and remix contest!
Geremy Barrios – Binary Harmony (2012)
This gonna set the fire in your living-room! Deep and pounding, Geremy Barrios delivers full-length debut album, merging techno and house, great grooves and good vibes. Both danceable and enjoyable, “Binary Harmony” will definitively leaps into the big league this Spanish artist, performer, producer, remixer.
Born in Montevideo in 1983 and raised in Barcelona, he’s been in contact with electronic music since he was very young, and at the early age of 13 he became interested in production, performing amateur jobs for several years. Always investigating and innovating, his style veered towards deep and techno house, and in 2005 he decided to also make a start in the world of mixing. Read more Geremy Barrios – Binary Harmony (2012)
Celldweller – Soundtrack For The Voices In My Head Vol 2, Chapter 02 (2012)
The hybrid fusion of aggressive electronic music with orchestral and rock influences now get to the next level of destruction by bringing in the big guns of dubstep, wobbling bass and frequency oscillations, deadly drops and explosive noises combined with orchestral and rock flows makes this new instrumental collection murderous. “ShutEmDown” is one of the most killer tracks I heard lately and it was used in the Ghost Rider 2 movie trailer. The Latin-spiced electro “Senorita Bonita” it’s also a favorite.
“The Wings of Icarus” was used in the Real Steel movie trailer, while “Earth Scraper” was used in the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations “Combat Trailer”.
Scott Albert, known as Klayton, multi-instrumentalist and the sole member of Celldweller was a former frontman and songwriter for the bands Circle of Dust, Argyle Park and Angeldust gained a devoted cult following in the mid 90s through his industrial metal band Circle of Dust. Read more Celldweller – Soundtrack For The Voices In My Head Vol 2, Chapter 02 (2012)
Edgecrusher – Damagemaker (2012)
12 murderous, good-old fashioned groove metal tracks, Pantera fans will be definitively satisfied by this Russian outfit. They incorporated in their “edgecrusher” sound several modern elements, like using synthesizers and have several Korn-alike nu metal grooves and layers, but generally they staying solid in the traditional, heavy, metal area. Some of their riffs even reminded me of Iron Maiden (“Real Monster” for instance), so, this is more close to the classic metal then to the nowadays post-metal and metalcore products.
And just to be goddamn honest, even to take a closer look to their album art, worth a few minutes. Read more Edgecrusher – Damagemaker (2012)
Noon and Hakan Ludvigson – Fortuna, single (2012)
This is the Monday morning awakening dance session. French tech-house producer Noon team up with Swedish Hakan Ludvigson for this one-off techno 2-tracker.
“Fortune” is a pounding, bombastic track nicely colored with uper-beat tribal percussion and minimal texture. “Platina” is kind of smoother and slower, running deeper and darker, having a narcotic, hypnotizing pulse. Two top notch, groovy club tracks!
Shut up and move your ass! Read more Noon and Hakan Ludvigson – Fortuna, single (2012)
Tom Block – Initiation (2012)
Blending electronica with psychedelic spices of the 60’s, trip hop and breakbeat elements with alternative rock and protopunk sequels, Tom Block’s debut album, “Initiation” seems to be a comfortable trip, a borderless experiment of smooth collisions of sounds and vibes. “Playa Nueva” reminded me of Fischer-Z – and The Clash – and that reggae-influenced pop (rock) vibe merged into the pulse of the lo-fi bedroom feeling gives the album’s special taste. If the 80’s were under the sign of “cock-rock”, this is the age of “coach-rock”. It’s time to light up and lay back, eventually dive down.
In a world of constant conflicts, struggles and turbulence, this might be the perfect shelter, an island of break. Chill and relax, Tom Block delivers the soundscape of this imaginary getaway. Read more Tom Block – Initiation (2012)
