The Famine – The Architects Of Guilt (2011) “The Architects of Guilt” is the second full-length album by the death metal band The Famine released the February – months before I started this website and although I had write a review back then, it wasn’t translated for this and while I deleted my blog meantime, it’s actually lost. The album had a quite contorted story,vocalist Kris McCaddon left the band before the recordings and bassist Nick Nowell took over his duties. After the recordings, the band’s studio burned down in February 2010. They lost not only all of their equipment, but also the tracking for their album. So, their label, Solid State payed for a new recording session and the band re-recorded the material. Read more 150 albums of 2011 – from 51 to 100
150 albums of 2011 – from 1 to 50
For me it’s kind of mission impossible to strip down the music of 2011 to a top 10 or something. And definitively it would be totally unfair.
I had a few expectations, I had a few surprises and a few disappointments, it was a busy year with too many releases, a quite mad over dumping it’s going on in the music industry in the last couple of years, I guess mainly because of the massive piracy, but also because lately everybody singing, nobody’s listening, kind of: there are more people on the stage than in the audience. At least almost. Unfortunately not everybody is talented, gifted as well, but eventually better promoted. Music became a product, not a way of expression and communication, it’s… strictly business. But I still love the music, I’m addicted. I had listen and I wrote about a few hundred albums this year. Read more 150 albums of 2011 – from 1 to 50
Cartographer – Hats, Capes, Dark Arts (2011)
Some people turn up they radio, others watch one of the music channels on TV, others buy and read music magazines or on-line sites, others got their music from they friends. Some says music should be free. Some people think that music is a product, others that is an expression, a form and manifestation of art. Everybody is absolutely right. I guess. I’ve got a friend who still listening exclusively his old MCs (mechanical cassettes), other friends of mine still collect vinyl records, some people buy CDs while others are completely satisfied by mp3s. Some of my friends listening all kind of musics, don’t bother label and sort them by genre and style, others listening exclusively Metal, Jazz, Punk or whatever they prefer. Love – I doubt it, but music definitively is in the air.
Sometimes I see an interesting cover, sometimes I read somewhere something about an artist or a band, sometimes a friend recommend me something, sometimes the bands send me materials for review, sometimes the record labels or some agency. I never listen the radio, I do not watch music channels, I don’t care what’s on the top of any charts, I don’t care what the critics, “the experts” says about… anything.
I stumbled accidentally into Cartographer and I liked what I heard from the very first moment. Read more Cartographer – Hats, Capes, Dark Arts (2011)
Skrillex – Bangarang (2011)
Dubstep became mandatory, it’s sold as the new revolution and definitively it’s the rising trend for 2012. Originated in south London, England, back at the end of the 90s, Dubstep get far and from an alternative street music became institution in America. This is embezzlement, it happened to Rock And Roll, to Punk and to Grunge, this is the so-called evolution, the way of art from creativity to mainstream and from self-expression to industry. Art might become a product, but rarely a product contains artistic values. Although I like those wobbling basses and ass kicking hits or contorted twists, Dubstep get patternized, becomes predictable and kind of meaningless, emptied of itself.
This “Bangarang” EP’s highlight is probably the collaboration between keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger, the surviving members of the legendary rock band of the 60s and 70s, The Doors and Sonny John Moore aka Skrillex, ex-rocker, nowadays famous and appreciated electronic dance music producer. They get together for the Re:Generation Music Project, and the result is the song called “Breakn’ A Sweat” and the movie comes out February 2012.
I wonder, there’s still any fire left to light? Read more Skrillex – Bangarang (2011)
The Thing – Mono (2011)
Mats Gustafsson (saxophones), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (double bass), and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) also known as The Thing, are back. Those who know them, know exactly what I’m talking about, what to expect from them, those who never had the chance – or misfortune – to collide with them until now, can’t even imagine what’s this trio about. Avant-gard, free jazz, action-jazz, 101% improvising, no grooves, riffs, themes, nothing to hang on, this is quite something anti-establishment, anti-pattern, anti-structure, and not at least anti-music form of expression. Art – or madness, quite impossible to drew a line between them. Far as I know, no MySpace, no Facebook or Twitter page, not even official web site, this is an old-style, hardworking band, taking the world club by club, selling their CDs after their tumultuous gigs and going further, eventually sometimes looking back, but not necessarily and not in anger. Read more The Thing – Mono (2011)
Dungeon Elite [**] – New World Disorder (2011)
Emocore, NintendoCore, Happy GrindCore, Electro Metal, label it as you please, this is extremely intense and murderous s*it. Fada (Screaming), Becko (Synthesizers and Vocals), and finally Maia (Vocals) formed the group in Rome, Italy and their released their debut, “Make Love Not Warcraft” in 2007. Described on their MySpace profile as “Techno/Grindcore/Emotronic”, their music is a refreshing mixture of Hardcore, Nintendo and Game sounds like elements with Dance and Electronic musics, it’s extremely pulsing, dynamic, Metal and Techno melt into one and explode. Read more Dungeon Elite [**] – New World Disorder (2011)
4Star – Daylight (2011)
If you’re looking for some biting hip hop mixed up with cutting edge industrial, this is it, no use to looking further. Obviously the first thing coming on my mind is Saul Williams’ 2007 album “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!”, and actually there’s a quite impressive vibe of Nine Inch Nails behind these songs, but still, 4Star sounds different, more aggressive, more intense, eventually raw in its very positive – street – sense. “Daylight” probably is not a radio-friendly product, not something build upon the public and mainstream taste, still, it sounds simple and massive simultaneously, blow your head off.
I saw a video on YouTube (Face Change) and it was bloody murderous. I put 4Star on search at Google and I got myself a serious list of 4 star Hotels from the whole world. Gee! Read more 4Star – Daylight (2011)
Man Overboard – Self Titled (2011)
It is not very clear when the term pop punk was first used, but pop-influenced punk rock had been around since the mid- to late-1970s. In ’77 in an article title published by New York Times appeared “Cabaret: Tom Petty’s Pop Punk Rock Evokes Sounds of 60s”, but regarding the merging of sounds between pop/new wave and punk were all over the 80’s and several bands merged pop melodies and catchiness with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and dirty guitars. In the mid-1990s, the California pop punk bands Green Day and The Offspring set the new trend and ever since even new sub-genres – eventually labels – rose: “happy punk”, “faux-punk”, “mall punk”, “pseudo-punk” or “bubblegum punk”.
I admit it unconditionally, I’m an old – stubborn – hardcore punk fan, even mentioning pop and punk in the same phrase sometimes I might consider it at least a deadly sin, but I’m old – and hopefully wise – enough not to generalize, not to reject “by default”, not to hate anything or anybody and I know for sure, every genre has its diamonds and pearls, just like its dirt.
And it’s the Holidays season, Hanukkah, Christmas – or any other pick – , and if your looking for some free downloads and cookies, definitively you will find some taste stuffs on these guys web sites. But for some good stuffs always worth to pay. 🙂 Read more Man Overboard – Self Titled (2011)
Mr. Pan[k]sament – Mashed, Scratched, Trashed (2011)
Free download, but this isn’t a regular album, rather a collection of remixes, but featuring two original songs and the cover of Nine Inch Nails’s “Hurt”.
Regarding my remixes, as a fellow producer noticed, I do some creative work, actually I re-write, re-perform most of the instruments, not only “remixing” the songs, so this might be an exciting listening mainly for those who know the originals, but not exclusively for them. I twisted off, smashed and mashed, scratched and trashed songs by Nine Inch Nails, Ghostland Observatory, Paper Diamond, Archnemesis, Lloyd Banks, Peter Gabriel, Jane’s Addiction, She Wants Revenge, Jessie and the Toy Boys, WormZ and Family Force 5.
Download, have fun, Happy Holidays Everybody! Read more Mr. Pan[k]sament – Mashed, Scratched, Trashed (2011)
naisian – Monocle (2012)
I was quite impressed by naisian’s debut album “Mammalian” (review HERE) back in July and now Adam Zejma hit me with their upcoming new EP called “Monocle”, scheduled for a 3/2/2012 release.
As they says, “the two tracks that make up Monocle have been written and recorded throughout 2011 and are inspired by the insipid Sheffield music scene and the bitter cold of the Northern winter (we failed to fully winterize our practice room and paid the price).
“Welcome to the Cool Club” is a spiteful rant designed to distract attention from our lack of fashion sense. “Cptn. Cluedo” is a tour story about how we were nearly killed at Watford Gap service station by two fiery (ginger) builders.” Read more naisian – Monocle (2012)
