“We drink, we fight, we puke, we die…” In very few words, this is the essence of Celtic Punk. It might be funny once, it might be cool twice, but third time it’s boring and forth time irritating. “Revolution” talking about hot topics like loosing job, just like “Don’t Shut ‘Em Down”, it seems the global crises sneaked into the hearts of everybody, even into the life of the people from the ever-shining LA.
Formed in 1997 in Los Angeles, California, Flogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish-American band merging Punk Rock with Celtic Punk. Prior to forming Flogging Molly, Dublin-born Dave King was the vocalist for heavy metal band Fastway featuring guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke of Motörhead and bassist Pete Way of UFO in the early to mid ’80s. In the footsteps of The Dubliners and The Pogues, Flogging Molly fifth studio album keeps the tradition alive. Read more Flogging Molly – Speed of Darkness (2011)
Reviews
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)
Neil Young – A Treasure (2011)
“You can call me erratic,†Young said “but I’ve been consistent about it, consistently erratic.†This is a Live country album recorded with legendary band, The International Harvesters, on the tour in THE U.S. in 1984-1985, and contains five previously unreleased songs. Young says. “I hadn’t heard these takes in 25 years, but when we unearthed them co-producer Ben Keith said, ‘This is a treasure.’†Tim Mulligan mixed and mastered the tracks. At the time these songs were recorded, Bob Sterne was the tour manager, Tim Foster ran the stage, and Larry Cragg was in charge of the band’s instruments. Part of “The Neil Young Archives” which are divided into several series, “A Treasure” is “Volume 09” from the “Performance Series”. Read more Neil Young – A Treasure (2011)
Romane – Swing for ninine (2011)
Born in Paris in 1959, Patrick Leguidecoq, better known simply as Romane, is a jazz guitarist who plays in the style of Django Reinhardt. He plays in varies band formations, from duo to sextet such as Django Vision and the Roman Acoustic Quartet, and also have many collaborations, from Florin Niculescu with Didier Lockwood, Tchavolo Schmitt, Angelo Debarre to Stochelo Rosenberg. Armed with his trusty Maurice Dupont Selmer-style guitar, Romane creates flowing lines that dazzle with their rapid-fire pace and their sensuous musicality. His arpeggios and runs mix Django’s phrasing with a style that is all his own and Patrick Leguidecoq don’t to stay stuck in a particular style, he plays a sparking, flowing and colorful music shifting easily between styles and genres. Read more Romane – Swing for ninine (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)
Lisabi – Au Diable Les Bananes (2011)
This year I had a few quite nice surprises from bands from Brazil. Most recently The Campbell Trio, in March I stumbled into MindFlow and The Tape Disaster, and there was a few others as well as I believe Sepultura once again delivered a consistent album again. So, Brazil rules, might be a dangerous place for strangers, but from the safe distance of my living room it’s something quite exciting about the world’s fifth largest country, about Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, the samba and the carnival, the girls and the music.
“Au Diable Les Bananes” migh be downloaded for free from HERE and Lisabi delivering a nice mixture of ska, jazz, punk and indie rock with exotic flavors and perfumes. Mateo Piracas on guitar and vocals, Sebastian Piraces on drums, Gabriel Slenes on trumpet and vocals, Andra Cardoso on bass and vocals, Matheus Fattori on guitars and vocals, and Anderson Kaltner on trombone and percussion delivered a vibrating, pulsing, colorful material. Read more Lisabi – Au Diable Les Bananes (2011)
Diapsiquir – A.N.T.I. (2011)
Formed in 1996 at Paris, France, Diapsiquir are avant-garde black metal with sick, psycho, twisted and intriguing textures, infusions of different musical genres from French chansons to rapcore and industrial, from dark-ambiental to displaced jazz. Considered “controversial french outlaw black metal band known for their decadent activities” and “never resting and fully absorbed in the savage, sexually violent, drug-laden nihilism of french subculture”, A.N.T.I., their third full-length album introduced us in a gloomy, but expressive, contorted and scary universe of sickness and filth. Leave your ridiculous hopes behind, salvation always comes too late. Read more Diapsiquir – A.N.T.I. (2011)
The Black Dahlia Murder – Ritual (2011)
Frontman Trevor Strnad said about “Ritual”, the upcoming fifth studio album, that this is “the most focused Black Dahlia Murder strike of all time.” Scheduled to be released on June 17, 2011 in Europe and June 21 in North America, the 45 minutes of slaughter compressed in 12 tracks are a mixture of pure aggression with consistent death metal marks, intriguingly melodious heavy metal riffs, extreme grindings and brutal vocals on a scale from death to black metal. Formed in 2001 at Waterford, Michigan, their name is derived from the 1947 unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, often referred to as Black Dahlia. Out of their four studio albums, the latest three charted on the US Billboard 200, with the previous 2009’s “Deflorate” peaking at #43. This is a considerable performance for a death metal combo of this intensity. And fans have nothing to worry, “Ritual” is another intense and grinding collection of extreme, modern metal. Read more The Black Dahlia Murder – Ritual (2011)
Unexpect – Fables of the Sleepless Empire (2011)
Twisted and schizophrenic – perhaps psychosomatic 😀 – Unexpect is exactly what they name suggest to be: expect the unexpected.
Formed at Montreal, Canada in 1996, they delivering since an unique – and quite sick – blend of different music styles, including black metal, death metal, thrash metal, progressive metal, melodic heavy metal, classical music, dark cabaret, opera, medieval music, jazz, funk, electro, ambient, noise, gypsy music, and just name anything you can think of.
“Utopia” they self-released, 1999 debut album, sold quite successfully, while the band market it only through internet and by man to man. Critically acclaimed, “Utopia” drew enough attention which lead to the release of the EP entitled “_We, Invaders” in November 2003 through the Canadian label Galy Records. Next they signed with New York-based The End Records and the band’s second album In a Flesh Aquarium was released in 2006 and they were winners of the 7th annual Independent Music Awards Vox Pop, voted for best Hard Rock/Metal Album “In a Flesh Aquarium”. Read more Unexpect – Fables of the Sleepless Empire (2011)
