![Thinking Plague - Decline And Fall [2012]](http://brushvox.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/thinking-plague-decline-and-fall-2012.png?w=150)
Generally empires are have this fate of decline and fall and I honestly believe that the Music Industry it’s an empire – and for sure it’s in deep and profound crises.
When music is only a product, sometimes quite secondary one of an industry self-titled “music” industry and all those products are pretty boring, predictable and tasteless, but similar pieces, bands like Thinking Plague are quite rare birds in the gray panorama.
Inspired by avant-art rock bands like Arts Bears and Henry Cow, as well as by contemporary classical composers, Thinking Plague has earned an avid international following by forging a singular synthesis of prog-rock with 20th century classical, folk, and jazz.
Founded in 1982 in Denver by Mike Johnson and bass guitarist/drummer Bob Drake, Thinking Plague built its following the old-fashioned way, though word of mouth and recordings passed around by fellow musicians and fans. The band’s line-up was enforced by classically trained vocalist Sharon Bradford, keyboardist Harry Fleishman and drummer Rick Arsenault. Released their debut album, “….A Thinking Plague” in 1984 on their own Endemic label, and pressing only 500 copies of the LP, the band received national attention. Read more Thinking Plague – Decline And Fall (2012)
2012
Rufus Wainwright – Out Of The Game (2012)
I find out about Rufus through the remix contest on Indaba Music, which only proves that Indaba is a good promotional vehicle. As I said before, I really don’t care about the private life and private opinion of the artists, I’m an addicted music consumer, at least I was till not so long time ago, honestly, I quit smoking and it seems the barely musical products that the industry desperately trying to sell us 24 hours at day and 7 days at week can’t really make me interested anymore. Fortunately I kept my appetite for food and sex! For now at least.
So, Mr. Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright was a completely stranger to me before disintegrated his “Bitter Tears” into my “Glitter Fears” which at the end of the voting period of the contest finished on the 22nd – catch 22? – place out of 221, which is not a bad result considering all the facts. Read more Rufus Wainwright – Out Of The Game (2012)
Prong – Carved Into Stone (2012)
The finger and neck snappers are back. Tommy Victor, who lately toured and recorded with Danzig and Ministry, and previousely also collaborated with artists such as Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor, now teamed up with Tony Campos (bass, backing vocals – previously of Static-X) and Alexei Rodriguez (drums – previously of 3 Inches of Blood and Walls of Jericho), to deliver the eight studio album by Prong. “Power of the Damager” was also released by Al Jourgensen’s 13th Planet Records, five years ago and it peaked at #47 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. Read more Prong – Carved Into Stone (2012)
Marilyn Manson – Born Villain (2012)
This is one of the albums of 2012 I really waited for, but on the other hand I was kind of afraid of. When Twiggy Ramirez was often quoted as saying “It’s our best record yet, I think. I mean, everyone always says that, but I think this is our best work so far… It’s kind of like a little more of a punk rock “Mechanical Animals” without sounding too pretentious.”, and since the previous “The High End of Low” it’s an almost four years gap, the expectations are pretty high. “No Reflection” kind of scared me further because it doesn’t actually sound pretty convincing, although it’s a quite fair Rock track.
So, “Hey, Cruel World…” just set things right, it’s a huge Manson sound like (almost) anthem and even the following “No Reflection” make more sense now, still don’t know why it was picked to be the leading single of the album while it’s almost one of the weakest track of it. Or maybe this is the reason. Or simply there is no reason. And well, no weak tracks, boring moments on this album. Read more Marilyn Manson – Born Villain (2012)
Slide On Venus – Topless (2012)
Blending genres and styles, Slide On Venus find their own. Alban De Luca – Guitar & Vocals, Victor Malé – Bass & Vocals, Thibault Malé – Guitar & Vocals and Mathias Perles – Drums & Vocals, find the perfect balance between a gentle part of melodic and catchy Pop and the energy of the Indie Rock spiced with a tasty part of Post-Grunge feeling. The opening title track of their debut album, “Topless” simply explode in your face.
The parallels with bands such as Biffy Clyro and Foo Fighters are obvious, but this French quartet from Besançon added their own approach to it and this debut album flow in the right groove from the very first beat till the… last drop. Read more Slide On Venus – Topless (2012)
Chris Quirk – District One, EP (2012)
I googled Chris Quirk, but it’s like googling John Doe, half of the planet seems to use this name, so it did not get me any further and without any other available background information, I left with this two tracks plus two remixes of the title track.
The energy is captivating, the sound is fat, modern, almost contorted, not that typical and absolutely tasteless all the same “boom boom” s*it. Actually “District One” is quite a killer track, it’s all about high energy, grooves, and good vibe. “Rude Awakening” continues in the same vain, slow down for taking a breath and only to blow up even noisier. Read more Chris Quirk – District One, EP (2012)
Jack White – Blunderbuss (2012)
Sex is probably the most powerful driving force in nature, in arts, implicitly in music. Some people believe that the power behind The White Stripes was the (sexual) tension between Jack and Meg White. When this flame faded out, Jack White moved over, eventually Jack find Alison Mosshart and we’ve got The Dead Weather.
The roots of “Blunderbuss” Jack’s first official solo album goes back several years when White was recording songs for several artists such as Tom Jones, Insane Clown Posse, etc. White was in contact with Wu-Tang Clan member RZA and they were going to do a recording session, but RZA couldn’t attend the session, so White recorded several tracks, which would ended-up into “Blunderbuss”. We’ve got 13 tracks, Jack delivering from raw blues to garage Indie Rock all the tricks and approaches he tried out in the last 15 years. Still, Jack managed to be timeless and fresh, shiny. This music is both simple and flawless! Read more Jack White – Blunderbuss (2012)
Environments – 2 (2012) – free download
Ambiental experiment, both strange and intimate, have the exotic smell of a country-side field-recording re-shaped with post-industrial, urban noises. When Alex “Para” Ghita decide to involve more noisier with his drums in the flowing build-up of the tracks, its reminds me of Sigur Rós, although I admit it, I have no serious references in this field of experimental music.
Environments is a Bucharest (Romania) based experimental ensemble build around Stefan Panea’s compositions involving with help from Alex “Para” Ghita on the drums and Marius Costache on effects and noise shaping. The project is already on its second release, starts with the forth track, exactly from where the first release left off in 2011. Read more Environments – 2 (2012) – free download
Not Your Fault [Mad About U RMX] – AWOLNATION remix contest
When I had listen for the very first time this track, the first thought of mine was The Stranglers. Then the chorus kicked in and it was like Green Day raging. What a challenge!
AWOLNATION, is an American indie pop band, formed and fronted by Aaron Bruno, formerly of Under the Influence of Giants, Hometown Hero and Insurgence. The band is signed to Red Bull Records and now the label push them hard as hell. Part of the promotion of their album “Megalithic Symphony” released last year in March is this Indaba remix contest.
I wasn’t sure about this till the last minute and I put this mix together in the last few hours, kept the original drum track, but filtered through EQ because I felt like the highs were pretty messy and even distorted, and I did some radical vocal editing and vocoding. The result is somewhere between The Kraftwerk, The Damned and… very twisted Skrillex on highly dangerous dopes… 😆 Read more Not Your Fault [Mad About U RMX] – AWOLNATION remix contest
Masked Toys – Bipolar Disorder preview
Some authentic Thrash which reminds me mainly of Exodus and Tankard and the good-old-days of the late 80’s, beginning of the 90’s. We’ve got three pretty raw recordings, but it definitively goes with the style. Luci – Voice & Madness, Bogdan – Guitars & Ideas, Sorin -Bass & Other strings, Ursu – Drums & Techs and set-up get back together last year determined to kick it hard again after a 16 years hiatus.
Originally formed in autumn of 1993, by Sorin (bass and vocals) and Bogdan (guitars), both freshmen at Iasi University, the kine-up was completed with Debo on drums, Cip on bass, while Sorin has concentrated exclusively on the the lead singer duties. After finalizing several songs, the band had gigs at “Rock Gala” in Bacau, “Young Rock for Youngs” in Piatra Neamt, where they were awarded the “Best Newcomer” prize, along with other regional shows. In February 1995 they recorded the demo “Greatest sHits” whose exciting originality blew up the underground scene. After an impressive participation at “Top-T Buzau”, Sorin had to leave the country in 1996 and the band failed to compensate his absence while Bogdan and Debo joined the Romanian-American band Destroyer.
But real passion never dies, therefore, in 2011, after Sorin had the chance to meet Luci (vocals) and Ursu (drums), the Masked Toys’ adventure began again. They quickly co-opted Bogdan again, and the band is back on track with full force. Taking by assault the stages again and working on the brand new set of songs, we’ve got a three track teaser of what’s coming up. Read more Masked Toys – Bipolar Disorder preview
