One more exciting band from Belgium after Thot , I, the Phoenix , Black Spires , Nox etc. And well, all these bands – and few others – are interesting in different ways, they are all “digging” in different directions.
The duo consist of Amaury Massion – vocals and guitar, and Joel Grignard – guitar, bass and keyboards start the project at Berlin during a week of performances at the famous Tacheles and by this debut album entitled “Freedomatic” they taking the world one by one, country by country, front by front, releasing it till now in Belgium, Holland, Switzerland and France. Read more My TV is Dead – Freedomatic (2009)
post rock
No Made Sense – New Season/New Blues (2011)
Before saying anything else: you can download this album for free and at top quality from the band’s Bandcamp page, “name your price” actually means that you can “give” even zero. It’s not fair, not even elegant, but… I still believe work and mainly creative ones should and must be rewarded substantially, but well, I’m a fucking weirdo.
Off-topics (and not so): I don’t know why nowadays people get together to make some noise, start a band. Lately, and more and more it seems everybody play, nobody listen and for worst, most of the bands are obsessed by the same (stupid) patterns, labels, boxes, genres, whatever. It’s fucking haunting me: “Punk’s not dead / It just deserves to die / When it becomes another stale cartoon / A close-minded, self-centered social club / Ideas don’t matter, it’s who you know / If the music’s gotten boring / It’s because of the people / Who want everyone to sound the same / Who drive bright people out / Of our so-called scene / ‘Til all that’s left Is just a meaningless fad / Hardcore formulas are dogshit / Change and caring are what’s real / Is this a state of mind / Or just another label / The joy and hope of an alternative / Have become its own cliche” (Dead Kennedys – Chickenshit Conformist). And if Jello Biafra saw this back in ’86, what can we say now? Looking back, the 80s smells like blooming creativity while today… shit. Really. If I have to listen just one more metalcore act, I kill myself!
Fortunately there’s always the exception that proves the rule. Read more No Made Sense – New Season/New Blues (2011)
Dir En Grey – Dum Spiro Spero (2011)
It has been passed 2 years and 9 months since “Uroboros”, Dir En Grey previous studio album and fans are quite on fire waiting their eight album. They can surpass themselves? Delivering 14 tracks and over one hour of music, “Dum Spiro Spero”, I think worth the waiting. Dir En Grey remains the same gloomy, impossible to label, but intense and contorted, genreless, but colourful music band, one minute they can sound like a psychotic death metal band and in the very next moment they just simply switch into a pop theme. Songs like “Yokusou Ni Dreambox” will bring you through all of this and even more. God blessed hell of a journey. Read more Dir En Grey – Dum Spiro Spero (2011)
Gomez – Whatevers On Your Mind (2011)
Ten tracks, the seventh studio album by Gomez has been born quite differently, it was demoed, written, arranged, and recorded over the Web, each of the members uploading ideas on which the others could work. It might be unusual, but while currently the band are spread out across 2 continents, split between the UK and US with Ian Ball residing in Los Angeles, Olly Peacock in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Paul Blackburn, Tom Gray and Ben Ottewell in Brighton, England, this working process comes quite naturally. But this working practices didn’t actually effect in any way the music of the band. Perhaps because Gomez since their very beginning in 1996 never have a leader, but three singers and four songwriters out of five members. Read more Gomez – Whatevers On Your Mind (2011)
Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie single and Road Trippin Through Time promo (2011)
Five years are equal of a lifetime in the music industry nowadays. The “Road Trippin Through Time” is a radio station issued, promotion only CD featuring 18 of the band’s biggest hits from “Give It Away” to “Californication” and from “Soul To Squeeze” to “Tell Me Baby”, all of them from the Warner Brothers era and in radio edited format.
Since “Stadium Arcadium” John Frusciante left once again the band and he was replaced by Josh Klinghoffer who joined Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2007 on the final few legs of their Stadium Arcadium tour, performing additional guitar, backing vocals, and keyboard parts alongside the band.
The new album, entitled “I’m with You”, is schedule to be released August 30, 2011, introduced by the reminder of the band through the radio promo album and a new single: “The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie” released to radio on July 15, 2011 and available via iTunes. Read more Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie single and Road Trippin Through Time promo (2011)
X-Wife – Infectious Affectional (2011)
Juggling between new wave minimalism and retro tastes of the 80’s and post-punk and rock sounds and structures, X-Wife, from Porto, Portugal, since 2002 delivered constantly quality electro music. “Infectious Affectional” is their fourth full-length album.
João Vieira – vocals and guitar, Fernando Sousa – bass and Rui Maia – synth and keyboards bring to the surface the same pulsing and pounding, minimalist and grungy post-punk/dark electro themes, it’s quite retro, but still not dusty, dark and electrifying music.
Read more X-Wife – Infectious Affectional (2011)
Dead To A Dying World – Self Titled (2011)
Mike Yeager – vocals, Leigh Ann Jensen – upright bass, Sam Pruitt – cello and vocals, Sean Mehl – guitar, James Magruder – bass guitar and Stefan Gonzalez – drums, from Dallas, Texas, open the gates of (inner) Hell. Sit back and die – slowly. DTADY will takes you down into a gloomy world build upon black metal foundation and colored with post-rock and neo-classic/experimental elements. Doom and crust metal grindings, dark-depressive themes, abstract and contorted moments, scattered cellos and cutting guitars are merged into one dark, but breathing new universe.
This self-titled, debut double-LP from Dead To A Dying World is for those who truly appreciate the aesthetic value of deluxe packaging and heavyweight color vinyl. The album is pressed on 200-gram, translucent green wax and features heavyweight jackets, metallic-silver printed innersleeves and gatefold graphic, and is neatly enclosed in a heavy-duty slipcase. Mastered at 45rpm for superior sound quality, this is an album that was truly meant for vinyl. Read more Dead To A Dying World – Self Titled (2011)
Jumping Jack – Cow & whisky, EP (2009, re-issued)
Jack… Jack… Jack. 😀 AC/DC anybody? Who’s got the jack? 😀
Well, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, recording on “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” began during the “Beggars Banquet” sessions of 1968, but it was not released on that album, although it was released as a single same year. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” has been featured in many films, including Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets” (1973), in Ron Howard’s “Night Shift” and at the end of Terry Gilliam’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, and on several Rolling Stones compilation albums.
On the other hand, looking at the CD cover it’s no way not to think of “Old No.7” – sure you know what I’m talking about…
These guys are not from Tennessee, but from Nantes, France. Read more Jumping Jack – Cow & whisky, EP (2009, re-issued)
311 – Universal Pulse (2011)
Being around for 23 years; released ten studio albums, one live album, four compilation albums, four EPs and four DVDs; achieved triple platinum with their 1995 self-titled album, which reached #12 on the Billboard 200 and achieved platinum with one more album and gold with other two; and finally, but not at least, selling over 8 million records worldwide, 311 seems to be a quite successful recipe. Generally labeled as an alternative rock band, they are also classified as rap rock, rap metal, funk rock, funk metal, ska punk, pop punk, reggae and even jazz fusion. Their ten, and up to date shortest album – only 8 tracks -, “Universal Pulse”, will not clarify further their style and genre, it’s another colourful album, while some might even say, this is the same 311 album they’ve already heard it nine times before.
This is a summer album. Read more 311 – Universal Pulse (2011)
Mindplotter – Coma (2011)
Mindplotter is a one-man project from Ukraine and “Come” is the second album after the 2010’s “La Beauté De La Solitude” exploring an electro-industrial, experimental area with noise and breakbeat textures, but also including colourful influences also from The Chemical Brothers, God Is Astronaut, DJ Shadow, Unkle and Massive Attack.
“Coma” sounds like a battle-ground for post-rock and ambiental music, it’s a collision between genres, matchcore and cinematic, smooth soundscapes are merged into one, glowing and colourful music.
Organic and mechanic, rock and electronic music blended together and the result is quite dynamic and exciting. Read more Mindplotter – Coma (2011)
