I’m not quite a big fan of instrumental rock music, perhaps because I get into rock music and I spent over a decade spiting into the microphone, but this “I Was Here For A Moment, Then I Was Gone”, the third album by Maybeshewill, band from Leicester, U.K. formed in 2005, it’s quite impressive. They play a sort of post-rock, pretty gloomy themes, but in a quite charming way, and they using programmed and sampled electronic elements alongside acoustic and electronic instruments. Maybeshewill has seen a number of musicians come and go, but core members Robin Southby on guitar, John Helps on guitar and James Collins on drums have been with the band since their first tour and album. On bass currently is Jamie Ward.
They might be compared by some with Mogwai, but Maybeshewill’s music is more intense, powerful, in a particular way more rock oriented, but also much more colorful, I would say deeper. Comparisons have also been made with Sigur Rós, but once again, Maybeshewill sounds much heavier I think, they have stronger rock roots and their music is not that spacy, soundscape and soundtrack/cinematic like. Read more Maybeshewill – I Was Here For A Moment Then I Was Gone (2011)
post rock
Heroin and Your Veins – Lovely Bone Structure (2011)
I stumbled into this accidentally on the Bandcamp, but well, I still don’t believe there is anything accidental in this life, so…Heroin and Your Veins is a one-man band started in 2006 by Janne Perttula in Tampere, Finland and Solina Records released the debut album entitled “Dead People’s Trails” in August 2007. The second album is called “Nausea” and it was released in April 2009 by Verdura Records. It is available also on Bandcamp for 8 Euro. “Lovely Bone Structure” is one single track last for 48 minutes, it was released on 19 April 2011 and only available in the internet at Bandcamp and “name your price” actually means that you can downloaded even for free typing zero. Well, it’s not quite polite, but… I think art and artists deserves our support in a world where everything becomes more and more plastic, fake and prefabricated. Read more Heroin and Your Veins – Lovely Bone Structure (2011)
Helms Alee – Weatherhead (2011)
Helms Alee were formed in 2007 by Ben Verellen (of the Harkonen, Roy, and These Arms Are Snakes), Dana James and Hozoji Margullis. “Weatherhead” is a boiling mixture of fury and beauty melting together vibrating and smooth acoustic elements and raging post-hardcore riffings, delivering perfect balance of what we mainly labeled as “alternative rock” and post-metal. Dana James have a powerful and expressive voice, she both singing and howling while Ben Verellen sometimes bring some extreme raw vocals as support. “Weatherhead” sounds cutting, dirty, full of energy, but still, they built in smooth and beautiful moments which gives a gloomy shining and more dynamics to their songs and this powerful album.
The trio sliding between styles and genres, switching from metal to psychedelic, from hardcore to folk, but they do all this extremely fluidly. Read more Helms Alee – Weatherhead (2011)
Coerce – Ethereal Surrogate Saviour (2011)
Coerce was formed in late 1999 in Deal, Kent, UK by Adam Smart – Vocals, James Wells – Guitars, Chris Williams – Bass and Liam Foy – drums and hey registered the name Coerce with The Worldwide Band Name Registry, still, there’s a band using the same name from Australia… a band split between Adelaide and Melbourne formed in 2008 by Mike Deslandes, Matt Adey, Karl Roberts and Justin Bond. The Brits declare on their MySpace page that they are playing Alternative / Hardcore / Metal while the Australians defined them self playing Big Beat/German pop/Tropical…
While there’s quite much confusion – an lack of information – on both bands pages and once again, somebody chosen a name before checking out if the name is available, I take no responsibilities for any further misunderstanding.
“Ethereal Surrogate Saviour” it’s quite off of Tropical/Big Beat, actually its bring to the surface a contorted, crushy and sometimes quite chaotic and gloomy post/experimental metal with roots back to hardcore but flavored with psychedelic and progressive spices being inspired by different bands from King Crimson to Tool and Pantera. find an unique path between progressive rock and metal and the noisy, stoner/doom infiltrated post-hardcore and merging these different styles into one they came up with something quite special and exciting.
It’s not an easy listening, but life it ain’t easy and in times when almost everybody is nothing but “a copy of an imitation”, Coerce sounds absolutely refreshing, they comes like a salvation against monotony and uniformity. Read more Coerce – Ethereal Surrogate Saviour (2011)
Slaves To Fashion – Artistic Differences (2011)
“Crossing Over†in 2007 was released under the name P:O:B. but despite positive reviews worldwide, no label could be found to push the self released album to a wider audience. The Norwegian rockers didn’t give it up, they change their name into the more remarkable Slaves To Fashion and continue playing a music that is actually very opposite of fashionable. STF merging metal and progressive hard rock with new, consistent sounds and for their new album, “Artistic Differences” they write some quite catchy and fresh themes and songs. Frank Jaeger, a German journalist and friend of the band, decided to take matters in his own hands and founded Hands Of Blue Records with one specific goal: to release this album. Read more Slaves To Fashion – Artistic Differences (2011)
themuztard seedz
I try to convince others to collaborate, create together. It seems harder than I thought, people mostly are preoccupied with their own shit. I can’t blame anybody, the world today is a pretty fucked-up place, and well, the worst is still to come I guess. Last year I put together a set of recordings with the core of the band Oedip Piaf and some contribution from Mr. Winteller from London, that was “Badtime Stories” (you can grab it for free, by the way), a noisy, gloomy, kind of experimental album which shifting between different genres from punk to free jazz and back to rock through psychedelic whatever.
The experiment still running, I write themes, song structures and I send the tracks around, anybody interested to participate, are welcome. I wrote this theme called “The Mustard Seeds”, Mr. Winteller and the guys from Oedip Piaf have their fun with it and send me back their tracks and I mixed them into one. This is the result: Read more themuztard seedz
Joy Division and New Order – Total (2011)
This is most likely an opportunity to discover Joy Division for those who one way or the other miss the end of the 70s, beginning of the 80s, rather than something spectacular for fans. Songs taken in chronological order and placed in the timeline since “Transmission” by Joy Division released in 1979 till “Krafty” from New Order’s latest album, “”Waiting for the Sirens’ Call”, released in 2005, plus a previously unreleased track, “Hellbent” from the same era. Joy Division enjoy the well deserved cult status while New Order gained eventually respect, otherwise many criticism being Joy Division minus the unrepeatable Ian Curtis. Joy Division were pioneers of the post-punk era, their gloomy, dark sound influenced considerably many following generation, they were quite “emo” long before “emo” was invented as expression and label. On the other hand, New Order get on a much more radio friendly and new wave path of the music… Read more Joy Division and New Order – Total (2011)
Peter Murphy – Ninth (2011)
Older dudes like me remember Bauhaus appeared during the opening sequences of the horror movie “The Hunger” featuring David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve, performing one of their most popular songs, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”. It was almost a lifetime ago, back in 1983…
Bauhaus were an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978, consisted of Peter Murphy (vocals), Daniel Ash (guitar), Kevin Haskins (drums) and David J (bass). The band broke up in 1983 and reunited for a 1998 tour and on a more permanent basis in 2005. The group announced plans to disband again following the release of their album, “Go Away White”, in 2008. The youngest perhaps noticed Murphy while Bauhaus toured with Nine Inch Nails in 2006 and Trent Reznor, Murphy and other tour-mate musicians (TV on the Radio, Peaches, etc) were guests on several radio shows together, often performing three to four duets per radio show. Reznor – as many others – cites Bauhaus as one of his primary musical influences.
After Bauhaus disbanded in 1983, Murphy worked with Mick Karn of Japan (bassist, keyboardist, guitarist, saxophonist) and Paul Vincent Lawford (rhythm construction) in the band Dali’s Car and released one album in 1984 “The Waking Hour” before going solo and releasing several albums: “Should the World Fail to Fall Apart” (1986), “Love Hysteria” (1988), “Deep”(1990), “Holy Smoke” (1992), “Cascade” (1995), “Dust” (2002) and “Unshattered” (2004). Read more Peter Murphy – Ninth (2011)
Man Man – Life Fantastic (2011)
Listening the fourth album by Man Man you might actually believe, feel, that life is fantastic. They have a glowing positive vibe, a charming perfume of the 60s with nice twist and turns of the 90s authentic indie sounds. Sometimes they sounds like a happy Tom Waits.
Formed in 2003 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Man Man’s frontman is Honus Honus, and its other members are Pow Pow, Chang Wang, Turkey Moth, and Jefferson, all the band uses pseudonyms. They’re known for their multi instrumental style that centers on the piano playing of lead singer/lyricist Honus Honus accompanied by a wide variety of other instruments played by the rest of the band. While on recordings, Honus usually plays piano, during the live shows he uses a Rhodes Piano or a Nord Electro 3. The rest of the band plays clavinet, Moog Little Phatty, sousaphone, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, flute, bass clarinet, drum set, euphonium, Fender Jazz Bass, Danelectro baritone guitar, xylophone, marimba, melodica and various percussive instruments including pots and pans, toy noise makers, chinese funeral horns, spoons, smashing plates, and fireworks. Read more Man Man – Life Fantastic (2011)
Kourgane – Corps De Chasse (2011)
Can’t dig and figure out too much about Kourgane, but I know for sure, they delivering a sick, twisted mixture of contemporary music including explosive spices of noise-rock, post-hardcore, jazz and experimental avant-garde elements. This is future-hardcore. Gloomy, heavy, contorted and restless. This universe was revealed for us by Tool at the beginning of the 90s when almost out of the blue the EP “Opiate” (1992) and their debut album “Undertow” (1993) opened a new doorway to an unexplored path of music expression of anger and twisted thoughts.
Unfortunately they are not willing to share any information in other language than French, and well, my French resume to “merde” – and I don’t wanna sound disrespectful. Frederic Jouanlong – vocals, Jarame Renault – drums, Gilles Lahonda – bariton guitar and Ryan Kernoa – guitar, introduced us in the world of pulsing riffs, pumping drums and shattered feelings. Read more Kourgane – Corps De Chasse (2011)
