Laika was a space dog. Actually the first animal to orbit the Earth, as well as the first animal to die in orbit.
After the success of Sputnik 1, Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader, wanted a spacecraft launched on November 7, 1957, the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. To meet the November deadline, a new craft would have to be built. Khrushchev specifically wanted his engineers to deliver a “space spectacular,” a mission that would repeat the triumph of Sputnik I, stunning the world with Soviet prowess. The planners settled on an orbital flight with a dog. Three dogs were trained for the Sputnik 2 flight: Albina, Mushka, and Laika.
Laika was found as a stray wandering the streets of Moscow. Soviet scientists chose to use Moscow strays since they assumed that such animals had already learned to endure conditions of extreme cold and hunger. Soviet space-life scientist Oleg Gazenko selected and trained Laika.
Before the launch, one of the scientists took Laika home to play with his children. In a book chronicling the story of Soviet space medicine, Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote, “I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live.” Read more Powder! Go Away – Laika Still Wants Go Home (2011)
Orchid – Capricorn (2011)
There are at least six bands called Orchid: a hardcore band from Amherst, Massachusetts considered by many to be one of the pioneers of the post hardcore sound and disbanded in 2002; a doom metal band from San Francisco, California; an indie-pop band from Poznan, Poland, a rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia; a “post-prog” band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, etc. Theo Mindell – vocals and percussion, Mark Thomas Baker – guitar and moog synthesizer, Nickel – bass guitar and Carter Kennedy – drums are the members of the San Francisco’s based doom metal band and “Capricorn” is their latest release through The Church Within label. And hell yeah, this is Black Sabbather than Black Sabbath. It’s enough to listen songs like “Black Funeral” for instance. A world of witches, spells, dark forces and mystic fires breaks loose. And you believe it or not, this sounds goddamn fresh, still have hypnotizing power and unbelievable strength. Read more Orchid – Capricorn (2011)
Anorak – Sick (2011)
And once again, there’s a band named Anorak from Spain, another band called Anoraks from Ireland and at my third shot I founded what I’ve been looking for, Anorak from France. Really guys, get a grip, it’s absolutely no use to kick off from making noise and ending up in the court yard! On the other hand I can understand that playing music it’s much more exciting than talking legal issues with some lawyers, but still…
“Sick” is a noisy, contorted, experimental post-metal material, intense and crushing, cutting edge guitar riffs, raw vocals, balanced and colorful drums, heavy bulldozer like themes and technical shifts, turns, twists are gonna run through to you like a racing car. Still, they have some interesting, psychedelic left-over themes, quieter moments which make their music much more exciting. The eight tracks of “Sick” are an intense, shaking experience. Read more Anorak – Sick (2011)
Camion – A Serenade for Yokels (2011)
From Rome, Italy, here it comes Camion (truck). They are a grinding, noisy, stoner rock band, have cutting edge riffs, raw vocals, pumping bass and smashing drums, it’s that kind of metal what made Soundgarden to be kings in the “Badmotorfinger” era. And some of they themes, riffs, verses may sound familiar form different places. “Here Comes the Harlay” and “Here Comes the Cadillac” had a riff – the same one – which is very “I’m Broken” (Pantera), “Route 666” obviously contains the verse “six, six, six, the number of the beast” ( 😆 😆 😆 ), “Cowbell From Hell” ( fuck me! 😆 😆 😆 ) keeps adrenaline high with the perfect tempo and some wining riffs. “Beers On Wheels” could be a Manowar song played by a punk/hardcore band, well, with your boots on or high on beers and wheels, life it’s just Rock N’ Roll. “Can A Truck Splat A Lollypop” may had a place on any earlier Social Distortion album and in the end, “A Serenade for Yokels” reminds me of Green Jelly. Read more Camion – A Serenade for Yokels (2011)
Eksi Ekso – Brown Shark Red Lion (2011)
Merge some songs left over from David Bowie since the 70s with some experimental indie, dream pop like layers and perhaps the result will sound just like this third album by Eksi Ekso, the band from Boston, Massachusetts, US. For the good of the experiment, eventually try to do this in your living room and bring some neighbors as well. There’s no guarantee at all that you will sound like Tom Korkidis (vox, guitar, bass, keys, samples, woodwinds), Alex Mihm (drums, loops, percussion), Sean Will (keys, samples, trumpet), and their collaborators, but it worth to try. 😀 At their MySpace page at the paragraph “Sounds like” they wrote: “We play instruments in the same room, sometimes in ways that sound like we’re playing together.” Nice. And in their case it worked out absolutely perfectly. “Brown Shark Red Lion” is a strange, sometimes airy, sometimes scattered, waving, rolling album. Million shades and colors sparking around and sometimes you’re not really sure what actually you’re listening at, but still, it’s kind of warm, familiar and friendly. Read more Eksi Ekso – Brown Shark Red Lion (2011)
C-Sides – Devitrification (2011)
If you’re anxious to listen something new from Geddy Lee – I guess everybody is waiting for “Clockwork Angels” – , well, this C-Sides probably will satisfy you. Released by the brand new label White Knight Records, “Devitrification” sounds just like some lost and found recordings by Rush from the late 70s, eventually early 80s, the stuffs they used to do before “Grace Under Pressure”. And the voice of Dan Fry reminds of Geddy Lee, Martin Rosser proved to be a colorful guitarist and Allan Mason-Jones is a balanced, power-rock drummer. All three of them before C-Sides in 2007 were members of the progressive rock band from Wales, UK, Magenta. But C-Side brings some heavy, modern sounds along that good-old taste rock and have some freshness, have a couple of good themes and write some nice songs. The parallels with the Canadian gods, kings, whatever you’d like to call them, stands, but C-Sides only recall that perfume of the 70s, 80s and they create their own world. Read more C-Sides – Devitrification (2011)
Mr. Pan[k]sament – Electro-Acoustic Two Notes Techno (Unstable Mix)
It’s been a while since I write/record something new. So this is the fresh s*it. I had some fun writing a classic Techno tune but kicking it off from some nice and gentle acoustic instruments, actually some strings and a “dummy” piano theme which have only the role to replace the drums. I had in mind to write something quite simple: no more than two, eventually three notes and hell yeah, I think this is a great song after all. Once again I will say what Henry Rollins said: music shouldn’t be brain surgery. Well, this album (The Ghost of the Absent Father) it’s pretty off from my usual path of musical searches, but I hate to repeat myself and well, I love to deviate into different stuffs from time to time. 🙂 Read more Mr. Pan[k]sament – Electro-Acoustic Two Notes Techno (Unstable Mix)
Caligula’s Horse – Moments From Ephemeral City (2011)
Caligula’s Horse started in early 2010 as a solo project for Quandray guitarist Sam Vallen to express the heavier and more guitar centric side of his musical personality. The music began to take a more modern form, incorporating influences as diverse as Frost*, Steely Dan, Meshugga, Devin Townsend and Porcupine Tree. At the begining the project was a primarily instrumental blank canvas, things changed by introducing vocalist Jim Grey from progressive metal band Arcane. Jim’s vocal created a musical invention much greater than it’s constituent components; highly melodic music of intense mood and depth, with strong, memorable hooks and intense, technical instrumental performance.
“Moments From Ephemeral City”, consist of 7 elaborated songs was release in April 2011 and it’s available for free-download (Download this entire album [in whatever format you like] for whatever price you think it’s worth, and please feel free to put in $0 if you see fit. All I ask is that you share it with a friend or two if you do!) at the band’s official site. Read more Caligula’s Horse – Moments From Ephemeral City (2011)
June DeVille – Swan Songs Of The Coyote (2011)
If the Google do not make a sucker out of me ( 😀 ), Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and from there are this three piece band called June DeVille, founded in December 2007 and as they say: “not split up yet.” 😀 And actually I didn’t stumbled into them, they found me. (Thanks Max!)
Their music is what we call post-metal and they flavor it with some grunge left-over spices, that kind of noisy and heavy grunge what once was the driving force behind Soundgarden. And well, June DeVille was a quite nice surprise. First at all, they have nerve. Sometimes it sounds like Zakk Wylde does it in his better days with Ozzy and Black Label Society. Secondly, but not at least, they wrote and recorded a couple of great songs. Read more June DeVille – Swan Songs Of The Coyote (2011)
Samael – Lux Mundi (2011)
Samael was a hell of a guy! 😆 😆 😆 Actually an important archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic lore, a figure who is accuser, seducer and destroyer, and has been regarded as both good and evil. Also called Sammael and Samil, he is considered in legend both a member of the heavenly host with often grim and destructive duties and a fallen angel, equatable with Satan and the chief of the evil spirits. One of Samael’s greatest roles in Jewish lore is that of the angel of death. In this capacity he is a fallen angel but nevertheless remains one of the Lord’s servants. As a good angel, Samael supposedly resides in the seventh heaven, although he is declared to be the chief angel of the fifth heaven. It is said that he was the guardian angel of Esau and a patron of the Roman empire. Read more Samael – Lux Mundi (2011)
