It’s definitively one of the most expected albums of the year. Ladies and gentlemen, The Cult are back! And they are back with some hard as a rock solid Rock. Kind of merging of two different eras of the band. One one hand we’ve got some real pounding classic Rock themes which lead us back to “Electric” (1987) and “Sonic Temple” (1989), on the other hand the album is filled with some dark, hypnotic tension which was characteristic for some of their more recent albums as “Beyond Good and Evil” (2001) and their previous “Born into This” (2007).
Bass player Chris Wyse describe it as a “Zep/Stooges mix of energy” – and the shadows of Iggy and Page are definitively hidden there. Read more The Cult – Choice of Weapon (2012)
alternative rock
The Constellations – Do It For Free (2012)
With a cover which reminds me of Sex Pistols and a sound which might result from the (imaginary) collision of the tour buses of Jefferson Airplane and House of Pain, The Constellations are back. Soul, 70’s Rock and 90’s Hip Hop is mixed up and pulsing around in their music.
Their debut album, “Southern Gothic”, released in 2010, is about what happens in Atlanta from 2 AM until noon, while the centerpiece, a delirious nine-minutes track, “Step Right Up” is a direct tribute to Tom Waits. “Atlanta is strange,” they said, “because we’re all basically pushed together. The hip-hop heads, punk rockers, and indie kids all rub shoulders and mix it up. “Southern Gothic” reflects that inclusive diversity in its far-reaching sound.”
Two years later, they are back with “Do It For Free” and the same flavor. Eventually less rapping, more soulful, kind of vintage spiced sound. Read more The Constellations – Do It For Free (2012)
Garbage – Not Your Kind of People (2012)
Getting older, stupider, dunno, but this is my kind of music. I was impressed by Garbage back in the mid 90’s, God knows how six years has been gone for good since Garbage’s last studio album, 2005’s “Bleed Like Me”, and almost out of the blue, “Not Your Kind of People” is like a fresh breath of air after spending too much time under the water, it sounds just like… Garbage.
Label it “Alternative Rock” or throw it in any other drawer or box, this is actually a quite genre-less music, Pop and Rock elements are perfectly melted into something new, charming, groovy, catchy music, designed for mainstream, but definitively not the fancy, usual, tasteless, predictable and forgettable plastic. If I would have to say only a very few words, I would say it feels good, sounds great and leave you with the taste of a thing well done. Read more Garbage – Not Your Kind of People (2012)
Grand Duchy – Let the People Speak (2012)
Cooking Vinyl, home of artist such as The Prodigy, The Cult, The Proclaimers, The Enemy, The Cranberries, Asian Dub Foundation, Art Brut, Pop Will Eat Itself, more recently Marilyn Manson – among many others – on April 9th, 2012 released the second album by Grand Duchy. The band was formed in 2008 by Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV aka Black Francis aka Frank Black famous for being the primary songwriter and singer of Pixies, and his wife Violet Clark. Their debut effort, “Petits Fours”, was released in February 2009, the duo now seems even more creative and “Let the People Speak” sounds twice as good as their previous album.
Although this is an experiment, a journey to quite different moods and vibes and without being tightly tied or related to any particular musical genre. Read more Grand Duchy – Let the People Speak (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)
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
Vagiant – Gospel According To Vagiant (2011)
Vagiant is a five-piece union of antisocial, paranoid still life loving, good-mannered and joyful nerds. That’s what they think about themselves, I think they need urgent medical care, lots of colorful pills, eventually biscuit cases. This is totally madness on loose. No genre attached, this is a quite contorted, experimental, glowing and flowing (post) Rock journey through different sounds and styles, from quiet, warmer moments to energy full, nervous breakdown-like explosions. In an extensively patterned and predictable, standardized world, Vagiant brings chaos and disorder, bring a fresh breath of music.
And what’s even better, you can grab for free (name your price) this 5 track release from their Bandcamp page. Read more Vagiant – Gospel According To Vagiant (2011)
With the Pieces – Lights Resolve Remix Contest
If the music industry wouldn’t killed me with the dumping and overdose of mediocre products last year, more aggressively then ever, “Feel You’re Different”, the debut album of this NY based trio, definitively would made it to the list of my favorite albums of 2011. Unfortunately I didn’t have the chance last year to listen it, fortunately I have it now. Indaba and (probably) the band offered their track “With the Pieces” to be remixed. The first thing which stroked me was the excellent sound. Produced/engineered/mixed by Mike Sapone and mastered by Emily Lazar & Joe LaPorta, the track – and the album – sounds awesome! Intense and clean, groovy and cutting, really-really rocks! The song is also great, have some killer verses, pounding drums, a murderous bass-line and huge vocals. Honestly and… actually I did not felt like it need to be remixed at all. But! Read more With the Pieces – Lights Resolve Remix Contest
