Pearl Jam – Lightning Bolt (2013)
The pre-album rumors were talking about “a darker and more atmospheric record”, some mentioning the name of Pink Floyd and even label the new songs “progressive rock”. Well, the glory days of the grunge are long gone now and Pearl Jam probably reaching out for a larger audience. Last time, “Backspacer” in 2009 was pretty much a disappointment for me, so, honestly I did not had any expectation from them this time. I admit, the idea of a “darker and more atmospheric record” not really thrilled me. “Ten” is still one of my favorite all-time rock albums and it’s definitively one of the most alive and kicking albums ever produced. Pearl Jam ever since failed to live up to that debut album, although delivered several great songs and a few good albums, on the other hand it’s also true, after their ’94 “Vitalogy” never really convinced me anymore with any of their albums.
“Lightning Bolt” start pretty convincing with the energy full trio of “Getaway”, “Mind Your Manners”, respectively the darker, but still kicking “My Father’ S Son”. Read more Pearl Jam – Lightning Bolt (2013)
Aiva feat. 4i Remix Contest
Powerstudio is one of the best recording studios in London offering state of the art equipment to record, mix, master and produce.
Powerstudio is operated by a highly experienced team which continuously use the latest technology to push boundaries of music production.
Powerstudio put up a remix contest now.
Rules: All genres are accepted. Entry limited to one per person. All rights in the Recording are reserved by Power Studio and remixes cannot be sold without their permission. Nothing contained herein or in the competition shall grant any rights in the recording to an entrant. Entrants should ‘Like’ Powerstudio on Facebook or Twitter.
The remix pack can be downloaded Read more Aiva feat. 4i Remix Contest
Peter Gabriel – And I’ll Scratch Yours (2013)
It’s an art to know when to stop, when to retire. Mr. Gabriel miss that moment. And don’t get me wrong, I love Peter Gabriel from their Genesis debut “From Genesis to Revelation” in 1969 up till “Up” in 2002. “Scratch My Back” in 2010 was an interesting experiment and I was looking for this announced “vice versa” type of album where the covered artists of “Scratch My Back” will re-literate their versions on some Gabriel favorites. Meanwhile we had “New Blood” in 2011, an album consists of orchestral re-recordings of various tracks from throughout Gabriel’s career. An interesting experiment, but honestly, not ground breaking and not so interesting as I expected to be. Originally, Gabriel planned on re-recording the songs with home-made instruments, which sound much more interesting then a classic symphonic re-arrangement, but that idea was dropped because Gabriel didn’t “find the range and tone of expression available in existing instruments”.
“I’ll Scratch Yours” kind of eviscerate totally the life and nerve from the original recordings and serve us some pale, lifeless, diluted, tasteless, “dried up and dead” versions of those magic and unforgettable songs. Imagine that you’re in a completely dark room drinking a quality, strong scotch and someone switch-up your glass and you’re expecting that strong taste of scotch, but instead you got served with lemonade. Read more Peter Gabriel – And I’ll Scratch Yours (2013)
Elvis Costello And The Roots – Wise Up Ghost And Other Songs (2013)
In plain theory this should not work. But it’s not only working, it’s fabulous. This is a vivid, genre crossing album where blues and hip-hop, rock and reggae, soul and rockabilly, punk-rock/garage rock sound and orchestral arrangements are merged into one and working surprisingly well together.
On one hand we’ve got the veteran English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello (age 59), while on the other hand we’ve got The Roots, an hip hop/neo soul band. An explosive mixture which prove to work smoothly and delivered a surprisingly strong and charming album.
Actually this is one of the most refreshing albums I heard in a while. With solid roots back to soul, blues and funk, but having an almost garage rock and punk like raw edge, this 60-‘s, 70’s flavored music proved to be still fresh, surprising and much more alive then most of the plastic, midi and looped based things we’re listening today. And this comes from a guy who have no nostalgia syndrome and works (sometimes play) on a midi-controller each and every day for more then a decade now. Read more Elvis Costello And The Roots – Wise Up Ghost And Other Songs (2013)
Fire! – Without Noticing (2013)
This is a massive sounding experiment where kraut and blues rock meets free jazz. Fire! incorporates saxophonist Mats Gustafsson of The Thing (and many more other projects), drummer Andreas Werliin (of Time Is a Mountain, Tonbruket, Wildbirds & Peacedrums) and basist Johan Berthling. “Without Noticing” it’s their third full-length album, the previous “Unreleased?” was released in 2011 and rocked my world.
This time we’ve got 7 tracks where on rock solid rhythmic bases and heavy bass lines Gustafsson can improvise wildly. This is a hypnotic and spectacular mixture of edge-cutting jazz and dense psychedelia. And probably not many people would imagine that a saxophone can be that aggressive! Read more Fire! – Without Noticing (2013)
Korn – The Paradigm Shift (2013)
Which one was your last favorite Korn album? Don’t tell me “Korn” or “Life Is Peachy” – although you might be right!! Mine was the 2005’s “See You on the Other Side” and it’s dark, sometimes industrial-tinged experimental metal flavor it’s still heavy and refreshing, edge-cutting after all these years. Last time they tried to ride the dubstep trend by bringing in some fancy producers as Skrillex, Noisia, Excision, etc and somehow “The Path of Totality” was too mainstream oriented and designed to be genuine. So, pretty curious what this time Korn it’s up to while they bring back original guitarist Brian “Head” Welch, for the first time since their 2003’s “Take a Look in the Mirror”. Still, “The Path of Totality” has sold 270,000 copies in the US, which anyway is a pretty decent number these days. Now Korn announced that they will return to their metallic-neurotic, darker roots.
The new album was produced by George Don Gilmore, best known for working with bands such as Temple Of The Dog, Pearl Jam (Ten), Lit (A Place In The Sun), Duran Duran (Astronaut), Linkin Park (Hybrid Theory, Meteora), Good Charlotte (Good Morning Revival, Cardiology), Bullet For My Valentine (Fever) and Hollywood Undead (American Tragedy) – and many more. He also working on the upcoming new Bullet For My Valentine and W.E.R.M. albums. Don Gilmore is definitively not a metal producer and obviously I was not expecting another album with the fury and heaviness of their debut in ’94. The answer of how Korn sound in 2013 came with the first single, “Never Never”, which was officially released on August 12, 2013. Read more Korn – The Paradigm Shift (2013)
Soulfly – Savages (2013)
The soul-tribe of Brazil is back! “Savages” is the upcoming ninth studio album of the band and the first to feature drummer Zyon Cavalera, Max’s son. Scheduled to be released on October 4, “Savages” consist of 10 grinding metal tracks and it was produced by the legendary Terry Date, responsible for some memorable albums such as Metal Church – Metal Church (1984), Sanctuary – Refuge Denied (1988), Dream Theater – When Dream and Day Unite (1989), Overkill – The Years of Decay (1989), Pantera – Cowboys from Hell (1990), Prong – Cleansing (1994) and many more. The album benefits also from featuring several guest artists including Igor Cavalera of Lody Kong, Jamie Hanks of I Declare War, Neil Fallon of Clutch and Mitch Harris of Napalm Death. Read more Soulfly – Savages (2013)
Diwon and the games that we play
Diwon is a Brooklyn-based American DJ, producer and songwriter. Under his legal name, Erez Safar, he runs Bancs Media, a cutting-edge production company specializing in branding, video and music production, graphics, interactive design, and commercials.
Safar’s career in music began at the University of Maryland when he founded Juez, a breakbeat klezmer jazz quartet in which he played drums. That year, he also began performing under the moniker DJ Handler, spinning a blend of Hip hop, Afro beat and Arabic music. In 2004, Juez released their lone album, “Shemspeed Alt Schule”, on Modular Moods, an independent record label founded by Safar. As they describe it: “Punk klezmer jazz influenced heavily by John Zorn and underground experimental group, Gutbucket.” Something interesting and worth to dig into it deeper!! Reminded me of one of my favorite bands: Hasidic New Wave of Greg Wall (tenor saxophone) and Frank London (trumpet; also a member of The Klezmatics). Read more Diwon and the games that we play
Metallica – Through the Never (2013)
IMAX and the mixture of a Sci-Fi adventure and some live recordings with Metallica performing mainly good-old classics can bring back the band to fortune and fame? Maybe not, but probably yes. Smells like flogging a dead horse and desperately trying to cash-in much as it’s possible from their own past.
Metallica is not a band, but a brand. It’s important to understand and accept the differences. I loved Metallica back in the eighties, but that Metallica was a metal band and not the brand they become after ’91.
Although in a recent interview, Lars Ulrich stated that “2014 will be all about making a new Metallica record”, and that the album most likely will be released in 2015, all that they were able to came up with so far are some live recordings from August 2012. The last Metallica album was the killer “Death Magnetic” in 2008, a really strong and defying album after some adventurous releases. 2011 bring us the dubious “Lulu”, the disappointing collaboration with Lou Reed. Two years later still no new songs, new recordings, but meanwhile Metallica managed what not any other artist managed, they have acquired the rights to all of their studio albums and launched their independent record label, Blackened Recordings, which – obviously – will produce all future releases from the band. Now I’m expecting that Lars Ulrich will set up a Bandcamp page for Metallica and put up there for free download (name your price) all their albums. 🙂 Well, probably not in this life!! 😆
But for now, if you’re an IMAX and cinema maniac and a Metallica fan, this is probably the perfect opportunity to bang your head in a cinema theater. Read more Metallica – Through the Never (2013)
