Rock N’ Roll Is Free? Well, according to Ben Harper it is or at least, it should be. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances, activism, actually at the age of 12, Harper played his first gig and since 1992 he released a couple of quality records, shifting his style and approach between different sounds and genres.
His father, Leonard, was of African-American and Cherokee ancestry, and his mother, Ellen Chase-Verdries, is Jewish. His maternal great-grandmother was a Russian-Lithuanian Jew, so being multi-colored, shifting styles and merging genres it’s not quite surprising. But actually beyond his talent, this mixture of colors, shades and musical perfumes make his music so charming. Read more Ben Harper – Give Till Its Gone (2011)
music
Urge Overkill – Rock & Roll Submarine (2011)
The term “one-hit wonder” is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single. “Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas, “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies, “It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls, “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles, “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell,”Turning Japanese” by The Vapors, “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield, ” In the Summertime” by Mungo Jerry, “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes, “Breakfast At Tiffanys” by Deep Blue Something and “Who Let the Dogs Out?” by Baha Men are just one of the few songs and artists “honored with this distinction”. On the other hand, some lists also included songs and artist such as “Epic” by Faith No More, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly, “All Right Now” by Free, “Cars” by Gary Numan or “”Take On Me” by A-Ha, so, it’s not a that dishonorable classification after all. I wonder who would heard about Urge Overkill if Quentin Tarantino wouldn’t release “Pulp Fiction” and on its soundtrack they wouldn’t included the cover version of the Neil Diamond song, “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” performed by them? Read more Urge Overkill – Rock & Roll Submarine (2011)
Love and other oddities
There’s a thin line between love and hate and sometimes we may slip over without noticing. Don’t matter how weird it may sounds, extremes over-lapping each other and sometimes melt into one. There’s a small step from indifference to desire, as well as between love and hate and back all over. The human being are a strange creature and there’s no Freudian coach to explain our weirdness. Any attempt to create any kind of pattern to explain the human behavior I believe it’s useless. We are same as we are absolutely unique and different. The human soul is a muddy and unexplainable universe.
Actually I believe we don’t have the same reaction regarding the same particular aspect at different moments on the time line. And not only because things and we are changing. Just because. Emotions have no patterns, our reaction is unpredictable. Things which may be unacceptable from our point of view once, today or tomorrow may stir up our interest. That’s how we really are even if it’s hard to accept, it’s difficult to face our self. Read more Love and other oddities
Kate Bush – Director’s Cut (2011)
I kind of miss her as I miss “Babooshka”. Her previous album, “Aerial” was released six years ago and that material was released after a 12 years gap. And well, “Director’s Cut” is a compilation consists of a revisitation/revision of selected tracks from her 1989 and 1993 albums “The Sensual World” and “The Red Shoes” and it will be available on 16 May 2011. While “Aerial” was one of Bush’s most critically acclaimed album, not surprisingly “Director’s Cut” have something from the atmosphere of its predecessor, is a multi-layered work, incorporating colorful elements of Folk, Renaissance, classical, Blues and pop music into one soft, mainly kind of intimate, nice and quiet music, but having a fresh, alive breath. Read more Kate Bush – Director’s Cut (2011)
Celtic Pink Floyd – Celtic Pink Floyd (2011)
Uilleann pipes, fiddle, tin whistle, accordion, banjo, dulcimer, bodhrán, mandolin, and bones are throw in the “battle” to re-build some of the legendary songs by Pink Floyd in Celtic Rock resonances. We have the unavoidable hits such as “Another Brick In The Wall (Pt. Two)”, “Wish You Were Here”, “Comfortably Numb”, “Hey You”, “Money” and “Mother”, but also some nice surprises as well, rarely covered songs such as “The Fletcher Memorial Home”, a total of 12 tracks. While the originals are some of the most famous songs by one of the British pioneers of Progressive Rock, these covers probably will bring enough attention on this product as well. Read more Celtic Pink Floyd – Celtic Pink Floyd (2011)
Shining – VII Fodd Forlorare (2011)
It’s pity and annoying, there are a band named Shining from Norway formed at Oslo in 1999 and this band from Halmstad, Sweden formed in 1996 by Niklas Kvarforth, also involved in the bands Skitliv, Diabolicum, Den Saakaldte, Funeral Dirge and Bethlehem. I love them both, Jørgen Munkeby shake my world last year with the incredible album “Blackjazz” which forged jazz, industrial and black metal, while Niklas Kvarforth keep on surprising us with his intense blending of black metal and incorporated elements of doom metal and post/modern metal textures. Two creative Scandinavian bands sharing the same name still may be confusing for some…
“VII Fodd Forlorare” set to be released by Spinefarm Records on May 25, 2011 consist in six gloomy but beautiful and intense new songs and it’s obviously the band’s seventh album. Taking on a more experimental path, Shining remains an intense and extreme metal act, some acoustic and experimental/psychedelic passages bringing more color and excitement to this new material. Read more Shining – VII Fodd Forlorare (2011)
Septicflesh – The Great Mass (2011)
In very few words, “The Great Mass” is the intercourse of the fallen angel’s deadly howls with the angel’s enlighted chants, it’s another (master) piece in the creative development of this interesting band from Greece, their eighth studio album it’s a bridge between their early works and simultaneously a step into their future. Septicflesh fans knows for sure what I’m talking about and they won’t be disappointed. But I think those who are not actually familiar with the universe of Septicflesh can discover an intense and colorful world through this brand new release. Spiros “Seth” Antoniou and his band mates merged intense black/death metal massacres and melodious heavy constructions with sophisticated symphonic elements, Peter Togtgren proof once again his abilities in metal productions and Christos Antoniou write some inspired orchestration performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Read more Septicflesh – The Great Mass (2011)
Enslaved – The Sleeping Gods (2011)
This is “only” a 5 track EP from this innovator Norwegian band after the release of the exciting album “Axioma Ethica Odini” last year. Enslaved slowly grow out of their black metal roots into something which is on the border between modern (post) and progressive metal, but still keep in their sound the energy and weight of their origins. “Alu Misyrki”, the second track from this new material have a strong Celtic Frost feeling for example. Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson managed to navigate intelligently between rock and metal tones and textures, experimenting with different approaches, pushing the limits of sounds and tearing down the walls of conventions. “The Sleeping Gods” is another nice piece in this artistic development. The very next song, “Synthesis”, bring to the surface some obscure psychedelic layers, cinematic sounds, it’s made of shattered sounds and enigmatic noises. Read more Enslaved – The Sleeping Gods (2011)
Anaal Nathrakh – Passion (2011)
According to Michael Everson’s transcription, Anaal Nathrakh means “serpent’s breath” and the name comes from Merlin’s Charm of Making in John Boorman’s 1981 film “Excalibur”. The British extreme metal band was formed in 1999 and they fuse black metal, grindcore, death metal and industrial music. “Passion” is their eight studio album and the new collection of ten songs are lead us through the same dark, contorted world made of forged guitars, raw vocals, crushing tempos and extreme noises, but Anaal Nathrakh managed to bring into this extreme butchery interesting harmonies and melodies, inspired colors and shady sounds. Read more Anaal Nathrakh – Passion (2011)
Moby – Destroyed (2011)
“All unattended luggage will be destroyed.” Moby’s flight was delayed on the LaGuardia Airport, so he decided to explore the airport. On a corridor he saw an electronic sign that said “all unattended luggage will be destroyed”, and since the sign could only fit one word at a time, he waited until the word “destroyed” appeared and took a snap-shot. The tenth studio album by Moby will be released on May 16, 2011 and it contains 15 brand new songs. Some critics already labeled as Moby’s worst album up to date, but I think it’s just once again a different path which Moby chosen to explore. “Destroyed” is like a series of snap-shots of contemporary ambiental/electronic music. Actually I miss myself a few nervous-breakdowns, some hardcore explosions, a few noisy turns, but I’m also realistic enough to don’t expect no more “That’s When I Reach for My Revolver” from Moby. Read more Moby – Destroyed (2011)
