Founded in 2001, based in Brussels, the Belgian record label, Alfa Matrix, becomes a quality trademark and home of some bands as Front 242, Leæther Strip, Unter Null, Armageddon Dildos, Zombie Girl, Mind:state, Psy’Aviah, Adam X, Dunkelwerk, Trisomie 21 – to mention only a few.
As the official release note says: “Although the first volume of this Depeche Mode cover album received a more than successful echo from both indie and mainstream worlds, this project would have definitely remained a one-off project if some of our label bands had not insistently pressed us to launch a second volume.” Leaether Strip, Ayria, Kant Kino, Komor Kommando, I:Scintilla, Technoir, Helalyn Flowers, Plastic Noise Experience, Implant, Krystal System, Acylum, and other bands delivered some twisted and exciting covers of Depeche Mode and definitively this double CD (plus free EP) are an excellent trip and perfect follow up of the previous, two years earlier release. Read more Alfa Matrix Re:Covered 2 A Tribute To Depeche Mode – 2CD (2011)
Reviews
My Dying Bride – Evinta (2011)
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of My Dying Bride’s existence, “the band embarked upon a special project to re-work familiar melodies and themes from their extensive catalogue into long, flowing symphonic compositions, incorporating new vocals and passages from Aaron Stainthorpe. Sharing vocals is professional opera singer Lucie Roche, a talented soprano from France. These arrangements have been brought to life in co-operation with keyboard maestro Johnny Maudling (of Bal Sagoth fame) as well as a clutch of talented classical musicians and will be released on May 30th as ‘Evinta’, as a 2 disc set & also a deluxe 3-disc edition with 64 page book, inspired by My Dying Bride’s illustrious recordings of the past two decades.” Read more My Dying Bride – Evinta (2011)
Dope Stars Inc. – Ultrawired (2011)
Merge Sigue Sigue Sputnik with Marilyn Manson and you will heave a pretty clear notion of what Dope Stars Inc. sounds like. Following the tradition of 80s Glam Rock, with one ear directioned to Motley Crue and Guns N’ Roses and the other to Hanoi Rocks and HIM, introducing electronica and industrial resonances, Victor Love formed Dope Stars Inc. in late 2002, early 2003 in Rome, Italy. Following “//Neuromance” (2005), “Gigahearts” (2006) and “21st Century Slave” (2009), “Ultrawired”, the fourth studio album by Dope Stars Inc. released on May 30, 2011 it’s available as a free download on the band’s website and rely on fan contribution to cover recording costs, as well as they placed a doodle on the Pirate Bay homepage. Kind of showing up the middle finger to the music business, isn’t it? Read more Dope Stars Inc. – Ultrawired (2011)
Blondie – Panic Of Girls (2011)
Ladies and gentlemen, light up, Blondie’s back. While “The Curse of Blondie”, their previous release from 2003 was a return to their roots and a more rocking approach – and it only peaked at no.36 in the U.K. charts – , the ninth studio album by the American Blondie bring us back to the care-free, relaxed 80s. Quite surprisingly they included for instance “Girlie Girlie”, a cover of Jamaican singer Sophia George, a Top-10 hit in the UK in 1985 and one song of Gilles Riberolles called “Le Bleu à l’âme” (“Blue In The Soul”), a homage to Jacques Brel and Serge Gainsbourg.
“Panic Of Girls” kicking off pretty cool with “D-Day”, an almost classic new wave track with all the good Blondie traditions incorporated, but that spirit it’s left aside, maybe only “Mother”, the lead single, have some charming left-overs of the glorious days. Still, I don’t believe Blondie managed to deliver another “Heart of Glass”, “Hanging on the Telephone”, “The Tide Is High” or “Maria”. Read more Blondie – Panic Of Girls (2011)
Asian Dub Foundation – A History Of Now (2011)
I knew this will be one of my favorite albums of 2011 even before I’ve been listening into it. I saw them live back in 1999 and since I’m a follower. Playing an explosive mixture of rapcore, dub, dancehall and raggae, using rock instruments and including punk and hardcore influences, ADF are one of the killer acts of Great Britain beside The Prodigy and much recently Subsource. Intense and speeding serious social and political messages, live they will smash off any scene and move the audience, their studio albums maybe do not capture all that energy and explosion, but still they are much heavier than most of the other bands and even heavier than some of the so-called “modern”, alternative or post-metal bands. They unique style of blending hardcore energy, punk rawness, electronics and dub inspired many other artists, but not so many managed to get even closer, not to mention the issue of credibility. Read more Asian Dub Foundation – A History Of Now (2011)
The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation – Anthropomorphic (2011)
The improvising alter ego of The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble , The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation delivering one hour of diving into the shady, gloomy, suggestive world of neo-jazz and cinematic meltdown.
Gideon Kiers, Jason Köhnen, Charlotte Cegarra, Hilary Jeffery, Eelco Bosman, Nina Hitz, and Sarah Anderson and various interchanging guest musicians including Ron Goris, following “Doomjazz Future Corpse!” and “Succubus”, “Anthropomorphic” is the third released session of TMFDC.
If for some, TKDE may sounds pretty strange, TMFDC it’s one step further. This may be the fourth dimension Doomjazz, a doorway to a dark, but sparking universe made of noises, gloomy textures and vibrating improvisations in the best avant-garde tradition of free jazz. As they describe it: “take a piece of THE CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA’s cinematic jazz, a dash of THE BROADWAY PROJECT’s dark/noir, a hint of AMON TOBIN’s twisted mutant jazz and a little FREEFORM ARKESTRA orchestral ambience. Throw in a minipinch of DJ SHADOW and MAJOR FORCE WEST, and a good dose of Planet Mu-ism and you’re pretty much there.” Read more The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation – Anthropomorphic (2011)
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble – From The Stairwell (2011)
I discovered them back in 2009 through the “Mutations” EP which promised to be the preamble for the new album. It’s been over a year and finally we’ve got “From the Stairwell” and eight fresh tracks. This is a Jazz experiment with gloomy electronic textures and atmospheric noise spices, it has a deep Miles Davis after-taste and abstract post-industrial flow, well, this is avant-garde in it’s deepest meaning.
TKDE started in 2000 as a project to compose new music for existing silent movies. Jason Kohnen (better known as Bong-Ra) – double bass and fretless, respectively Gideon Kiers – beats and effects, both graduates of the Utrecht School of Arts, combined their audio and visual skills to reinterpret classic movies by F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu) and F. Langs (Metropolis).
While Bong-Ra is quite known having several releases through labels such as Planet Mu, Cock Rock Disco and Sublight, Gideon Kiers worked with Jochem Paap (Speedy J), on the development of the 5.1 surround sound ‘Umfeld’ project. Runs the bi-annual Sonic Acts Festival in Paradiso Amsterdam. Read more The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble – From The Stairwell (2011)
Sounds Under Radio – Where My Communist Heart Meets My Capitalist Mind (2011)
You might believe this is the new Muse album, its sounds like, even the voice and singing style by use of falsetto and vibrato of Lang Freeman reminds me of Matthew Bellamy, but well, Sounds Under Radio are a band from Austin, Texas, formed in mid 2005 by Lang Freeman, Bradley Oliver (bass, keyboard), Sonny Sanchez (drums) and Doug Wilson (guitar).
Their song “Portrait of a Summer Thief” was featured on the “Spider-Man 3” soundtrack ant their were the only unsigned band (at that time) to be included in the soundtrack amongst names like Snow Patrol, Jet, Wolfmother, The Killers, The Flaming Lips, etc.
They signed with Sony/Epic Records in late 2008, but after facing inter-label turmoil, they gave up their contract and in mid 2008 released their first full length LP “Cinematica” independently. Read more Sounds Under Radio – Where My Communist Heart Meets My Capitalist Mind (2011)
Devin Townsend Project – Ghost (2011)
Devin is probably one of the most talented rock artist of the 21st century, he always find a way to surprise us, to explore a new path, to create and share exciting music and feelings with us. And I think we should thank for this. “Ghost” is the closing act of the four piece release started with “Ki†in 2009 and followed the same year by “Addictedâ€. “Ki†was an exciting incursion into a world of ambiental, jazz, blues and rock blending and “Addicted†lead us into the area of power pop/alternative metal. This year “Deconstruction†and its nine tracks drive us into the contorted, gloomy world of post-metal madness, it was a mind-blowing return to the noisy constructions of the Strapping Young Lad era. As Devin promised, “Ghost” is the mellowest one. And “mellow” is the word that quite fits this material. Read more Devin Townsend Project – Ghost (2011)
Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi – Rome (2011)
Born as Brian Joseph Burton, better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, is a Grammy Award winning, American musician, songwriter and producer. In 2004 he became famous when he released “The Grey Album”, which combined acapellas from Jay-Z’s “The Black Album” with instrumentals from The Beatles legendary “White Album”. He formed Gnarls Barkley with Cee Lo Green and produced their two albums “St. Elsewhere” and “The Odd Couple”. He also produced the second Gorillaz album, the 2005’s “Demon Days”, as well the Beck’s 2008 album, “Modern Guilt”. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Producer of the Year category five times, in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011, and finally won the award in 2011. In addition, Burton worked with rapper MF Doom as Danger Doom and released the album “The Mouse and the Mask” in 2005. He’s works also includes The Rapture “Pieces of the People We Love” (2006), Sparklehorse “Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain” (2006), The Good, the Bad and the Queen (2007), The Black Keys “Attack & Release” (2008) and “Brothers” (2010), The Shortwave Set “Replica Sun Machine” (2008), Martina Topley-Bird “The Blue God” (2008), Joker’s Daughter “The Last Laugh” (2009), Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse “Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present: Dark Night of the Soul” (2010), Broken Bells “Broken Bells” (2010) and “Meyrin Fields” (2011) and curently he’s working with U2 on their upcoming album. Read more Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi – Rome (2011)
