As I previously said not only once, I’m not an expert in Jazz, but honestly, I’m so-so-so-so bored in most of the Rock/Metal, eventually so-called Rock/Metal (mandatory “core”) bands, that Jazz sometimes offers me the only reliable refugee.
Born Bradford Alexander Mehldau in 1970 in Jacksonville, Florida, Mehldau is an American jazz pianist. He attended William H. Hall High School in West Hartford and participated in Hall’s prestigious jazz program. While a sophomore in high school, he won Berklee College’s Best All-Around Musician Award. Mehldau moved to New York in 1988 to study jazz at The New School, studying under Fred Hersch, Junior Mance and Kenny Werner. He played as sideman with a variety of musicians, most importantly with the Joshua Redman quartet, before forming his own trio in 1994, with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, and later Jeff Ballard, who succeeded Rossy in 2005. In addition to his trio work, Mehldau collaborated with guitarist Pat Metheny, releasing two albums with him and embarking on a worldwide tour along with Grenadier and Ballard. Read more Brad Mehldau Trio – Ode (2012)
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Exilia – Decode (2012)
Merging the sound and approach of bands such as Guano Apes and Skunk Anansie, Exilia incorporated more Industrial elements and Nu Metal grooves and delivered a strong fifth full-length album.
Formed in 1993 in the classic city of fashion, Milan, (Italy) when singer Masha met guitarist Elio Alien, Exilia debuted with the album “Rightside Up” in 2000 and their following “Unleashed” which much heavier and more aggressive sound, released in May 2004, made to the Top 40 in the German charts.
The band’s biggest hit so far has been “Can’t Break me Down” released as CD single in 2005. They have played gigs with Oomph!, Guano Apes, H-Blockx, Clawfinger, HIM, Therapy?, In Extremo, Rammstein, God Forbid, Sanctorum and Ill Niño and singed to GUN Records, division of Sony BMG. Read more Exilia – Decode (2012)
Devianz – A Corps Interrompus (2012)
Formed in 2004, in Paris (France), Devianz, this five piece band, now delivering their long awaited second full-length album, “A Corps Interrompus” (With Interrupted Bodies). 13 tracks, one bonus and one top collaboration with Vincent Cavanagh of Anathema on the song called “Ton corps n’est qu’atome” (You’re Body is Nothing But Atoms), revels a wild, willing and extremely capable band which managed to blending sensitive, acoustic rooted European Rock with the energy, explosion and rawness of the American Indie and Post-Hardcore. But more further than another perfect sonic experiment, Guyom Pavesi, Benoît Blin, Pierre Labarbe, Vincent Rémon, and Charles-Vincent Lefèvre write and recorded 14 songs. Read more Devianz – A Corps Interrompus (2012)
Janis Joplin – Pearl Sessions and Move Forward RMX
Three months after she died on October 4, 1970, on January 11, 1971, Columbia Records released “Pearl”, the only album Joplin ever recorded with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, the touring ensemble that had backed her on the Festival Express. Peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200, a position it held for nine weeks, Pearl included some of Janis’s most familiar and best-loved performances including her cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee” and her off-the-cuff a cappella “Mercedes Benz.”
The Janis Joplin’s 69th Birthday is honored by Legacy Recordings with the releasing of “The Pearl Sessions”, a two-CD set of Joplin’s final studio recordings.
The Pearl Sessions brings together, for the first time in one package, the original mono versions of the album’s 45s alongside the original LP tracks as well as the revelatory newly-discovered alternate versions, outtakes and vocal takes of Pearl’s classic tracks. The recording were discovered when researchers were putting together material for a 40th anniversary edition of “Pearl”, and find a previously uncatalogued audio tapes from the album’s sessions, produced by Paul Rothschild. Read more Janis Joplin – Pearl Sessions and Move Forward RMX
Zardonic – Vulgar Display Of Bass (2012)
Federico Augusto Ágreda Álvarez, best known as Zardonic, is a Venezuelan DJ, producer, remixer, composer and keyboardist, known for his drum and bass act as well as his dark ambient, Black Metal and minimal techno side-projects as Blackholepit. His remix work include tracks for Nine Inch Nails, The Berzerker and Gorgoroth, as well as original releases on Dieselboy’s Human Imprint label and on Skrillex’s OWSLA label.
Expect, harsh, contorted, intense, noisy Dubstep, up to satisfy all the public expectations. This music is extremely groovy, sometimes dark enough, noisy and heavy in almost a Rock/Metal sense, high energy and even a sort of violence. And Zardonic definitively knows exactly what will hit you right in your face and what makes this s*it really banging. “Vulgar Display Of Bass” is a genre bending album of collaboration with a series of other artists and producers such as Counterstrike, Reid Speed, Messinian, Mark Instinct, NumberNin6, Run DMT, Krusha, Omar Santana & Voicians. Dubstep, Drum & Bass, Industrial and Metal are forged into one and will blow up your speakers. If you’re a fan of deadmau5, Skrillex, eventually The Prodigy, definitively you will bang your head off on this one too. I’m just not so sure about the…. revolution. Still, this is a good one, might be even the best in its genre and, on the other hand, “Revolution” is a huge song and not the only, a possible anthem for a future… revolution. Read more Zardonic – Vulgar Display Of Bass (2012)
The Prestige – Black Mouths (2012)
Back at the beginning of the 90s with all that Alternative/Indie/Grunge wave, I discovered several huge bands among all the trash praised by the media and pushed by the record labels and agencies. One of them was the obscure H.P. Zinker from New York founded by Hans Platzgumer. Their last album, “Mountains of Madness” released in 1995 and its cover design by Stefan Sagmeister won several design awards and it was also nominated for Grammy. “Black Mouths” strangely, but unrelated, reminds me of that record. This Parisian quartet featuring Alex – vocals & guitars, Raphael – guitars, Thibaut – drums, and Julien – bass, delivering a same kind of colorful post-punk/hardcore, adrenaline fueled music merged with lots of colorful, experimental moments and deviations.
Can grab for free “The Truth”, the opening track of their upcoming full-length debut album. Read more The Prestige – Black Mouths (2012)
OSI – Fire Make Thunder (2012)
Office of Strategic Influence – eventually Office of Strange Influences nowadays 🙂 – is a project started originally by Fates Warning (Arch/Matheos, John Arch, Gordian Knot) guitarist Jim Matheos in 2002 and the only other constant full-time member is keyboardist Kevin Moore (Chroma Key, ex-Majesty, ex-Dream Theater, ex-Fates Warning). Although, the band’s name is a reference to the Office of Strategic Influence, a short-lived American government agency formed in 2001 to support the War on Terror through propaganda.
Jim Matheos originally intended to create a progressive metal supergroup while Fates Warning went on hiatus. He recruited then-Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy to work on the project. Matheos then asked Chroma Key and ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore to contribute by adding keyboard arrangements to the music he had written. Moore instead heavily edited the music, changing the song structures and adding vocals. Matheos decided to pursue this new, more electronic direction. The members and contributors write and track most of their material independently, sharing and developing tracks long-distance, only coming together at the end of the process for mixing and additional tracking. Read more OSI – Fire Make Thunder (2012)
Killing Joke – MMXII (2012)
If Ian Curtis wouldn’t committed suicide on 18 May 1980 and Joy Division would be still around and playing, “In Cythera”, the leading single of the fifteenth studio album by Killing Joke uploaded to the YouTube on 6 March it’s exactly the kind of music we are probably expected of Curtis. Although, this is a classic Killing Joke album with classic sound, and with the classic line-up: Jaz Coleman on vocals, Kevin “Geordie” Walker on guitar, Martin “Youth” Glover on bass, and Paul Ferguson on drums.
Out on April 2nd via Spinefarm/Universal, “MMXII” consist of 10 tracks which will definitively rock your world. Read more Killing Joke – MMXII (2012)
Black Light Discipline – Against Each Other (2012)
Merging Scandinavian Pop and Glam Metal (H.I.M.) with the Rammstein trademarked Neue Deutsche Härte, using both cutting guitar riffs and trance-like synth layers, the Finish Black Light Discipline are back with 10 brand new songs on their second album.
Founded in 2005 on the idea to make captivating, synth-based grooves by mixing Metal and electro genres, BLD are pushing the envelope of music. They released their full length debut album, “Empire”, in 2008 where featured as guest artists Dj Proteus and MC Raaka P. Toni Valha – vocals, Janne Kankkunen – synths, Joonas Pulkkinen– guitar, Veikka Jokela – drums, and Jani Rissanen – bass are striking again. Read more Black Light Discipline – Against Each Other (2012)
Madonna – MDNA (2012)
Honestly I can not figure it out why Madonna needed ten more (top) co-producers among/beside her – Klas Åhlund, Alle Benassi, Benny Benassi, The Demolition Crew, Free School, Jimmy Harry, LMFAO, Michael Malih, Indiigo, William Orbit, Martin Solveig, and an even more impressive list of writers for this album and its 12 – absolutely mediocre – songs? This presumptive recipe of success was tried out by Britney Spears on her latest “Femme Fatale” album, and didn’t really worked. And I’m not talking strictly about selling figures, but songs to remains.
There are several good or better moments in some of these songs, but generally speaking it’s quit a pale album with nothing really outstanding on it. Maybe nothing must to be outstanding in Pop music generally speaking and not nowadays particularly, but still, Madonna used to pretend at least she’s a queen and she have something (different) to offer. Not this time. Read more Madonna – MDNA (2012)
