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)
rock
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)
Valerian Swing – A Sailor Lost Around The Earth (2011)
This is a soulful, explosive, flowing, ever-changing, complex and elaborate instrumental album. I actually hesitate to say instrumental rock album because Valerian Swing are far beyond any particular label and box, this is metal, rock, even jazz sometimes, eventually contemporary heavy music. Many times technicality kill the soul of the music, but this is not the case of Valerian Swing, extremely complex themes, impressive breaks, twists and turns make their music dynamic, but without loosing anything from its sensivity and expression. Incredible depths, incisive riffs, colorful lyricism, different moods and tones are revealed by this extremely young, but very talented trio from Correggio, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Formed in 2002 by Stefano Villani, David Ferretti and Alan Ferioli, only one year later including of Johnatan and Davide on vocals they recorded their first five track EP which gained excellent reviews and it was followed by explosive live shows around northern Italy, sharing the stage with established Italian underground bands. Read more Valerian Swing – A Sailor Lost Around The Earth (2011)
Draconian Incubus – Undead (2011)
Resurrect Jim Morrison or take Ian Astbury, or Glenn Denzig and bring them to a rehearsal with Fields Of The Nephilim and the result may be pretty close to what Draconian Incubus produce. And this band from San José, Costa Rica sounds just great. I’m wondering how many people can show me at first where’s on the map Costa Rica… Gloomy, perhaps a little bit evil, but they rocking hard and Julio Salazar have guts and voice. J.C.Dijeres – guitars, Paola Cascante – drums and Jose Carfax – bass, obsessed by Aleister Crowley bring to life a dark universe. Recorded live sometime between March and April, 2011, they said “This is not an album, This is not an EP, This is not a single, This is Real Love, Hallelujah!” and well, you can get your share of this magic potion because the 6 track material is available for FREE DOWNLOAD on their Bandcamp page. Read more Draconian Incubus – Undead (2011)
Powder! Go Away – Laika Still Wants Go Home (2011)
Laika was a space dog. Actually the first animal to orbit the Earth, as well as the first animal to die in orbit.
After the success of Sputnik 1, Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader, wanted a spacecraft launched on November 7, 1957, the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. To meet the November deadline, a new craft would have to be built. Khrushchev specifically wanted his engineers to deliver a “space spectacular,” a mission that would repeat the triumph of Sputnik I, stunning the world with Soviet prowess. The planners settled on an orbital flight with a dog. Three dogs were trained for the Sputnik 2 flight: Albina, Mushka, and Laika.
Laika was found as a stray wandering the streets of Moscow. Soviet scientists chose to use Moscow strays since they assumed that such animals had already learned to endure conditions of extreme cold and hunger. Soviet space-life scientist Oleg Gazenko selected and trained Laika.
Before the launch, one of the scientists took Laika home to play with his children. In a book chronicling the story of Soviet space medicine, Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote, “I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live.” Read more Powder! Go Away – Laika Still Wants Go Home (2011)
Orchid – Capricorn (2011)
There are at least six bands called Orchid: a hardcore band from Amherst, Massachusetts considered by many to be one of the pioneers of the post hardcore sound and disbanded in 2002; a doom metal band from San Francisco, California; an indie-pop band from Poznan, Poland, a rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia; a “post-prog” band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, etc. Theo Mindell – vocals and percussion, Mark Thomas Baker – guitar and moog synthesizer, Nickel – bass guitar and Carter Kennedy – drums are the members of the San Francisco’s based doom metal band and “Capricorn” is their latest release through The Church Within label. And hell yeah, this is Black Sabbather than Black Sabbath. It’s enough to listen songs like “Black Funeral” for instance. A world of witches, spells, dark forces and mystic fires breaks loose. And you believe it or not, this sounds goddamn fresh, still have hypnotizing power and unbelievable strength. Read more Orchid – Capricorn (2011)
C-Sides – Devitrification (2011)
If you’re anxious to listen something new from Geddy Lee – I guess everybody is waiting for “Clockwork Angels” – , well, this C-Sides probably will satisfy you. Released by the brand new label White Knight Records, “Devitrification” sounds just like some lost and found recordings by Rush from the late 70s, eventually early 80s, the stuffs they used to do before “Grace Under Pressure”. And the voice of Dan Fry reminds of Geddy Lee, Martin Rosser proved to be a colorful guitarist and Allan Mason-Jones is a balanced, power-rock drummer. All three of them before C-Sides in 2007 were members of the progressive rock band from Wales, UK, Magenta. But C-Side brings some heavy, modern sounds along that good-old taste rock and have some freshness, have a couple of good themes and write some nice songs. The parallels with the Canadian gods, kings, whatever you’d like to call them, stands, but C-Sides only recall that perfume of the 70s, 80s and they create their own world. Read more C-Sides – Devitrification (2011)
Caligula’s Horse – Moments From Ephemeral City (2011)
Caligula’s Horse started in early 2010 as a solo project for Quandray guitarist Sam Vallen to express the heavier and more guitar centric side of his musical personality. The music began to take a more modern form, incorporating influences as diverse as Frost*, Steely Dan, Meshugga, Devin Townsend and Porcupine Tree. At the begining the project was a primarily instrumental blank canvas, things changed by introducing vocalist Jim Grey from progressive metal band Arcane. Jim’s vocal created a musical invention much greater than it’s constituent components; highly melodic music of intense mood and depth, with strong, memorable hooks and intense, technical instrumental performance.
“Moments From Ephemeral City”, consist of 7 elaborated songs was release in April 2011 and it’s available for free-download (Download this entire album [in whatever format you like] for whatever price you think it’s worth, and please feel free to put in $0 if you see fit. All I ask is that you share it with a friend or two if you do!) at the band’s official site. Read more Caligula’s Horse – Moments From Ephemeral City (2011)
June DeVille – Swan Songs Of The Coyote (2011)
If the Google do not make a sucker out of me ( 😀 ), Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and from there are this three piece band called June DeVille, founded in December 2007 and as they say: “not split up yet.” 😀 And actually I didn’t stumbled into them, they found me. (Thanks Max!)
Their music is what we call post-metal and they flavor it with some grunge left-over spices, that kind of noisy and heavy grunge what once was the driving force behind Soundgarden. And well, June DeVille was a quite nice surprise. First at all, they have nerve. Sometimes it sounds like Zakk Wylde does it in his better days with Ozzy and Black Label Society. Secondly, but not at least, they wrote and recorded a couple of great songs. Read more June DeVille – Swan Songs Of The Coyote (2011)
