Or: why the "change" pocket in cargo shorts is truly, genuinely great and useful:
Said pocket holds an iPod nano nearly perfectly, which in turn holds the digital version of the above record, which in turn--
allows Radio Music Society to permeate me while I go about my normal day: washing dishes, vacuuming and whatnot...
Radio Music Society is undeniably "pop" music (a term I'd normally consider an insult) at its very best (perhaps hence Esperanza's recent Grammy win): innovative music with clever, inspirational lyrics, while still melodically memorable: it's George Clinton-- if he played bass, came from a jazz background, and wrote less-sexualized lyrics.
It's adventurous, creative pop music. It's also, pretty obviously, an attempted "crossover" record (from jazz to pop), though it's pretty much successful in this regard (there's no instrumentals; it's all vocal-led pieces with a jazzy though pop-led sensibility):
"Endangered Species" is the best intro tune/ "crossover" example here: previously she just did the somewhat-famous Wayne Shorter piece (while singing the tenor sax line as scat); however, now there's intelligible lyrics (i.e., what's normally called "vocalese," which is normally a terrible thing, particularly in tunes like Monk's "'Round Midnight") but in this case, it pretty much works.
With the "deluxe edition" (normally a semantic indicative of a cash-grab by iTunes or whomever), you actually get an hour-long video of the "making of" the record-- and it's worth getting in and of itself.
Specific tracks, you ask?
"Land of the Free," which is just Esperanza and a bass with lyrics, is the most overly political tune here: It's George Clinton + Scott LaFaro + Public Enemy, ca. 1988.
"Black Gold," the initial single, still holds up, and in general I really enjoy Spalding as a "New Jazz Artist" (especially since she's a hot black chick playing bass guitar and singing!)-- how is this not hot...?
On track six, "I can't help it," you get this lyric:
"Like a trip to heaven, heaven is the prize..." (featuring Joe Lovano, one of the few tenor guys of the last, say, 40 years, whose tone, via his $1000 custom-made wood mouthpiece, I angrily covet)....
"Hold on Me," is Mickey Spillane (i.e., Dashiell Hammett over the top) as melody and mood... jazz as you probably think it is if you don't listen to much jazz)....
Basically? She's a "jazz"-borne ingenue, one who's decided to write jazz tunes that a very-literate public will chat about while drunk....
Evaluate that as you will, for good, or for bad....
I stood staring out the open door, watching the earth move 15,000 feet below me.
I'd taken many a dive before, so I had no reason to be anxious, but as the wind belted my face, I couldn't help but think something was about to go terribly wrong. Fastening the earbuds into my ears, I hit my iPod and the Pagan Folk Metal of Dutch band, Heidevolk, burst into my ears. It seemed like the perfect accompaniment to my jump. Swallowing my fear, I leaped from the plane, flinging myself into the vastness of the early morning sky. The air buffeted my cheeks, icy daggers of pain digging into my face as if a butcher were filleting my face with tiny scalpels. Adrenaline seared though me, but not in the sense of the normal rush. It was the fear of the unknown.
Lightning cracked. A vortex swirled around me, a maelstrom of darkened clouds and stinging rain. Thunder resounded within the whirlpool of whipping clouds and ice particles. The Earth disappeared. My body descended into nothingness.
Then, just as quickly as the vortex arrived, it was gone. I was on the earth, unharmed, yet I hadn't ever deployed my chute. How was that possible? And where was I? The darkened forest around me was a far cry from the windswept, brown grassy fields of my landing zone. Rain fell about me. I crawled onto my knees in the mud.
Then, they were there.
I saw them before I heard them. Pounding drums and chants of a long-lost time. A time of dark ages and lost Germanic tribes. Terror seized my heart as the foliage parted and out they stepped. The Batavi. Yes, I know they existed over a thousand years ago when they dared to rise up and fight against the oppression of the Roman Empire. But there they were. In single file formation. Battle armaments at the ready. The regiment began chanting in unison "Een Nieuw Begin." I don't know how they had electric guitars, but they did, and they crushed out one brutal metallic riff after another, searing up and around the melody of the chorus and back into the group chant. I should have been terrified, but I wasn't. The Batavi didn't want to harm me. They knew I wasn't from a lost Roman Legion. No . . . they wanted me to join them.
We marched back to their village and the feast began. In the main hall, mead and ale poured like a sexual fluids as the guitar whipped into the melodic lines that rode over the staggering metal riff of "De Toekomst Lonkt." Paired clean vocals rose above the fray of rousing metal guitars, leading the men into the hall, ushering them forward to celebrate the upcoming battle. And the men did. Rushing in amid a tempo change and perfect thrash riff, they gathered and chanted in unison. I don't know what they were singing, some Germanic dialect, but I was totally wrapped with them. Mead flagons held aloft. A God was going to bless them that night and the men planned to meet that God drunk off their asses.
We feasted on boar and deer, tearing the meet from the animals bones with our teeth, juices dripping down our chins, as a funeral mall fell over the group. The dirge of "Het Verbond Met Rome" settled over the large room, walls of guitar screaming and echoing as if in mirror of the dying that would happen tomorrow. The reality of our situation settled in. We were about to face the world's mightiest army--the mere few of us. But we weren't going to falter. Picking up the mead flagons we jumped upon the table as the crushing thrash riff picked up the tempo. Another group chant. Another rousing metallic riff. A brotherly slap to the warrior besides me. If I was to die, these would be the men I would meet my maker with.
"Wapenbroeders" brought us to the frenzy. Crushing blast beats accompanied by the mournful wail of a violin filled the air as we lined up single file, grabbing our weapons. A battleaxe in my right hand, I grabbed a metallic mace in my left. I steadied the shield that protected my left forearm and pulled the helmet down over my bald scalp. Our leader called out to us as the cacophony broke into a raging guitar riff. "Hey" we screamed back in time with the band. Battleaxe raised. "Hey!"
Adrenaline speeding through our veins and the taste of blood lust in our mouths, we marched through the village to the raging metal of "In Het Woud Gezworen." The women stepped out of the earthen huts, babies draped on their hips. Then it was time for a moments reflection. A lone violin stepped in above a delicately strummed acoustic guitar as we took the two minutes of the mournfully beautiful "Veleda" to say our goodbyes. Tears stained their cheeks and even the bravest man felt the knot grow in their throats as the reality of our eventual battle set in. Not many of us would return to our homes, but fight we must. For freedom. For our children.
And fight we did. To the hyper-intense death scream blitzkrieg of "Als De Dood Weer Naar Ons Lacht" and on through the thrash metal assault of "Einde der Zege" we fought. Limbs rendered from torso. Heads split open under the crushing might of my mace. I defended my brothers, fighting for my new adopted land. Blood splayed, flesh tore. The band played on in furious thrash metal as the lone violinist joined in, lending her mournful gaze to the bloodshed.
And then, as quickly as it had started, it was over. "Vrijgevochten" rang out, a lone guitar scratching out a metal riff, soon accompanied by the full band and the rousing gang vocals of us survivors. We rose above the dead, our arms locked with each other. We raised our voices to the Gods, giving thanks for our victory and remembering the brave deaths of our fallen comrades. As sweet as victory is, the muted metal of "Vrijgevochten" reminds us that nothing comes without a cost. We gather up our dead and wounded and head back to the village. Women and mead await.
As for me, I have no desire to go home. I'm one of the Heidevolk now. I live with the Batavi. Romans beware.
The first time I heard the phrase “Nine Pound Gun” was when I was partridge and pheasant hunting near the Madison River in Montana. As we practiced with 12 gauge shotguns on some skeet before heading out into the fields near the river, one of the guides pulled out an old Civil War-era Springfield rifle and quickly hit, reloaded and hit, two clays. The second guide, who had been tending to the dogs, yelled back at the group of us hootin’ and hollerin’ over the accomplishment and said “Hey, Eagle-Eye, showing off with your 9 lb gun?” I didn’t understand the odd reference until I later found out that the rifle weighed 9 pounds and that a 9 lb gun was actually a European cannon found mounted on vessels of the English and Spanish armadas of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Nine Pound Gun (9LB GUN) is also a great power trio that fires classic, country-tinged southern folk rock in the tradition of Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo. Jeremy Phillips provides lead guitar and vocals. Ross Kinsler plays a left-handed bass and Bob (The Drummer) Lovvorn provides skins and cymbal play. Both Kinsler and Lovvorn ably provide back-up vocals. Phillips and Lovvorn have shot it up together, off and on, for the past 20 years. The band is from Lafayette, IN - Middle America - and they sound the part. They only recently pulled the trigger on forming a trio with Kinsler.
9LB GUN has released one locked and loaded album and it is explosive It contains ten targeted tracks, is called Twelve, Twelve, and it goes off just like an over under shotgun. One barrel is full of bar room rock - the other, alternative rock backseat ballads. It all packs a one-two punch and can do some major damage when properly aimed. It is great beer bar music loaded with a bit of two-stepping - and it is American as apple pie.
By the way, 9LB GUN says on Facebook it is looking for a manager. Doing it that way is kind of a field artillery approach to a sniper problem, don’t you think? Hope it works out for them. 9LB GUN is definitely worth a shot.
“Hi everyone I’m Penfold. Welcome to Penfold’s Wildlife Adventures. In today’s episode you’ll follow along as I try to observe the legendary Wino and his latest musical accomplice Conny Ochs in their natural environment, the Heavy Kingdom. That’s right friends! I’m travelling deep into the heart of the Heavy Kingdom, and I don’t know what I’ll find once I get there. All I know for certain is that I have to go. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! Join me won’t you?”
“Welcome back friends. My crew and I touched down at an airport near the outskirts of the Heavy Kingdom about an hour ago. Once we retrieved our camera equipment from the tarmac we passed through customs and met up with our guide. His name was Gunther, and boy did he ever look the part! He was dressed in all black from head to toe. Black shoes, black denim jeans, thick black belt with an enormous silver animal skull buckle, worn black leather vest over worn black t-shirt. Couple that with his unkempt hair, multiple piercings and omnipresent sneer. This was obviously one heavy dude. Nobody messed with Gunther.”
“We drove in Gunther’s vehicle, which to my estimation was more like a tank, through the Kingdom’s treacherous landscape. Navigating several deep ravines filled with enormous boulders fallen from the towering mountains looming overhead was rather intimidating. Thankfully, we eventually cleared the mountain range and emerged into an expansive savannah. Everyone took out their cameras when we noticed several herds of large animals grazing in the distance. If we were not on such a tight schedule I would have asked Gunther to stop his half-track. It’s too bad, but the photos turned out great!”
“A short time later the sun began to disappear below the horizon. As the day turned to night, Gunther pointed out lights emerging from the darkness far out in front of us. He informed us that those lights came from the capital city of the Heavy Kingdom. I couldn’t believe it. We were almost there! Sure enough, as we got closer to our destination the lights got brighter and brighter. More numerous too. When we were still several miles away I could easily make out the gigantic ring of skyscrapers that effectively formed the capital city’s border. Passing beneath these sky-conquering structures we entered into a virtual labyrinth of streets and alleyways.”
“Thank goodness for Gunther. Left to my own devices I would never have been able to find my way around this bustling city. Fifteen minutes later our guide stopped the vehicle and pointed to his right. I turned in my seat to see a small building sitting between two skyscrapers. The front of the building was unadorned except for a neon sign indicating the door was open. I thought Gunther was kidding me, but he insisted that the men we were looking for would be inside. Trusting our guide my crew and I exited the vehicle and entered the building. Sure enough, there on a slightly elevated stage were two men with guitars in hand standing in front of some speaker cabinets. Could it be? Yes! Yes it was! It was Wino and Conny Ochs!”
Good day waveriders. Truly, I mean that. This is a good day. Scratch that. This is a great day! What fills me with such positivity? Simply this. I’ve listened to the stunning new Wino & Conny Ochs album Heavy Kingdom. Stunning might not be a strong enough descriptor in this case. I’m really not interested in mincing words right now. Heavy Kingdom is firmly planted in my list of the best albums of the year, and it’s staying there. Allow me to persuade you as to why you should all feel this way too.
If you are a regular visitor to The Ripple Effect I’m one hundred percent certain that you do not need me to explain who Scott “Wino” Weinrich is, or explain that this man is a legend in several heavy metal circles. His work in bands such as Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, The Hidden Hand, Shrinebuilder, Spirit Caravan, etc. speaks for itself. Conny Ochs on the other hand might be an unknown quantity. I was introduced to this talented young German artist in early 2011 when I had the opportunity to review his solo debut album. Raw Love Songs drilled the name Conny Ochs permanently into my brain with its elegance and emotional resonance. I love that album! So how did these two artists meet and decide to write music together?
The genesis of Heavy Kingdom occurred back in 2010. That was when Conny Ochs opened up for Wino on his solo acoustic tour in support of Adrift, his latest album. As the story goes, the two artists immediately found musical kinship and by the end of the tour they were performing with each other onstage. I suppose I would call that a pretty good indicator for future collaboration. Not wasting any time the two recorded an album of material near the end of the tour entitled Labour Of Love. Honestly, I had no idea about this album until I had done some research for this writeup. Fast forward to 2012 and we have Heavy Kingdom.
Allow me to reinforce my position. Heavy Kingdom is a magnificent album! These two musicians have put their heart and soul down on each of these eleven songs. Conny Ochs’ soulful, haunting vocals perfectly complement Wino’s gruff, weathered voice when he is singing lead (and vice versa). The only other instrumentation on these tracks is their guitars. That’s it. No bass. No drums. No strings. It’s just two guys with their guitars laying down some serious music. Perhaps it is due to this simplicity that these songs sound so incredibly honest. They’re beautiful. They’re moving. They’re heavy as all get out! You can ask me to pick a favorite out of the bunch but you’re wasting your breath. I’m telling you it can’t be done. Different songs offer different observations and provoke different emotions. One day I’ll favor a song like “Heavy Kingdom”. The next I’ll favor “Dark Ravine”. The point is that every song on this album is a winner. It’s true. I watched the entire ribbon ceremony online.
Waveriders you have to hear this album! If you’re a follower of Wino or Conny Ochs this is a mandatory listen. If you are a fan of honest musical expression, pick up a copy of Heavy Kingdom immediately. While I can’t make the claim that this music will change your life, I can promise that it will definitely alter your listening habits. Whatever you are listening to now will have to make room for Heavy Kingdom. My apologies go out to those albums that fall by the wayside.
Alestorm's genre was listed as Scottish Pirate Metal. I am not kidding you. This is possibly the coolest, weirdest thing I have ever had the fortune to stumble upon. And the album cover of Back Through Time fits perfectly within the genre description. A bloodied skeleton warrior wielding a sword that's impaling a severed head, you really cannot get any cooler than that. Well, maybe add a bit more corpes and spookiness, but you get the idea.
Back Through Time starts with the sound of wind whistling through sails while gutteral voices shout admidst cannon sounds. No, I'm not joking, they really went that extra mile. The lyrical content continues the pirate theme, talking of traveling through time to fight vikings, causing shipwrecks, while taking heads and.....treasure, of course. Really? Is this a novelty act, or are these guys actually this seriously obsessed with pirates? Racer, are you trying to make me lighten up a bit by sending me this album? Yes, it's very funny that a band is literally parading around as modern day pirates, but it's not quite as funny when you realize that the entire....album...talks.....of...nothing....but...pirates. The joke wears thin by the middle of the album.
If you forget the slight immaturity for a minute, these lads are actually talented. I really liked the doubling done by the keyboards and the guitars. The drumming chugs along like a runaway train, or ship, I guess *rolls eyes*. There were also orchestral acompanyments, including trumpets, many other horns, flutes, and what sounded like bagpipes at one point. Well, they are Scottish, so, there you go. I liked it, it added a nice cultural point, you can tell the lads are proud of their background. Alestorm's sound combines the chugga-chugga of death metal, guitars pushing the limit of speeds with the flighty meideval sound of pagan metal. Lots of old fashioned Scottish folk music mixed in with the heavy metal and of course the yells of "YAAHH, TREASURE LADDIES!" Sad part is, I'm not joking, that's almost a direct lyric right there.
I eventually stopped listening to the lyrics because they were just getting silly after a while. Getting past the whole silliness, Alestorm is really a pioneer in their sound. Flawlessly combining speed metal with pagan metal while piling on shouted lyrics, it's different, a good different. Pirate-ness aside, I would listen to this band again, possibly while on a road trip so I can pretend I'm a pirate too. Why not? Goths and pirates could go together quite nicely I think.
I walk around town looking like a teenage Adora BatBrat (just kidding, I wish I looked like her!) so I can't really be casting about judgement on looking weird, now can I? If Alestorm really follow through with this pirates thing and walk about in pantaloons and 1600 styled jackets, more power to them. Eh, cheers mates, may we all be freaky together!
There I was - an American in Barcelona in the late 1970’s. I paid for a small habitación off Las Ramblas. The city was, and is, a dizzyingly strange merger of cultures. The Romans conquered it and it is said to have been settled by the crew of one of the nine ships of Hercules and Jason and the Argonauts when they shipwrecked in search of the Golden Fleece. The City has been run by the Christians, overrun by the Visigoths, conquered by the Muslim Moors, and tended by the French. All that cultural clash has led to an interesting eclecticism in the architecture (just look at the Gaudi Cathedral) and in the City’s population. Modern influences, Western European and American influences, mix with the old.
As I walked up Las Ramblas I was surrounded by birds in bird cages, vendors, artists, musicians, singers, acrobats and dancers, all performing simultaneously, The influences changed as I walked. It was like the Doppler Effect of ambient sound - changing volume, timbre, tempo, style and pattern every few steps with a merger of two in the space between. I wondered whether these amazing and seemingly disparate influences I heard - flamenco, pop, jazz, rock, gypsy, middle eastern and classical - could ever be melded together by a band of musicians to capture the feel of a modern Barcelona.
I finally found that band in Ojos De Brujo, which in English means “Eyes Of The Sorcerer.” The band now has several albums under its belt and is marketed in North America by Six Degree Records located in San Francisco, CA. My first experience with Ojos De Brujo was their 2006 release entitled TecharÃ. It consists of a CD with fourteen tracks (all en español) and a CD-ROM of four videos, photos of the making of the album, lyric translations in 15 languages and a booklet pdf of album illustrations.
Band vocalist Marina “la Canillas” Abad has a fascinating voice that ably handles an incredible variety of musical styles - sometimes within the same song. Maxwell Wright handles male vocal duties and plays some percussion. Panko (yes, that is his full name) plays keyboards but also scratches like a NYC Club DJ at 1a.m. on a Saturday morning. Ramon Gimenez and Paco Lomena are flamenco guitar masters. Javi Martin plays bass. Xavi Turull pounds on the cajón, tabla, congas and percussion. and Sergio Ramos assists on the cajón and plays drums.
It is incredibly difficult to characterize the sound of Ojos De Brujo. It is crisp, clean, clear - an amalgam of influences and flamenco-tinged. It all comes together to form a fascinating and entirely enjoyable aural experience. - much like the band’s hometown of Barcelona. There are pop, jazz, rock, hip-hop, gypsy, middle eastern and classical influences, yet the music is thoroughly modern.
Really, though, back in 1978 I did wonder whether such a mixture of cultural musical aesthetics could ever amalgamate and synthesize. I realized that someday they would when I walked in and sat down at a table in a small steak restaurant/bar near the Barcelona bullring. Along with the torero clothing, bull horns, capes, hats, swords, picas and other bullfighting memorabilia that covered the walls, was a small television. The bar patrons’ eyes were transfixed on the TV. As I looked up I heard, “Mamacita!, Mamacita!” and saw on the screen a small girl running across a field to Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon. A man’s voice melodically intoned over the scene. “La casa de la pradera” - Little House On The Prairie. Fusion had already started.
Acephalix' last full-length, Interminable Night, was my no. 7 album of last year, so I was excited to hear this one.
It's very similar to Black Breath's newest, in that there's a marriage of Entombed to New York City Hardcore-- the difference here is that Acephalix are much closer to Entombed than the NYHC-- they're boldly detuned, and overall slower than BB.
"Tomb of Our Fathers" is the first standout, with its groovy, Asphyx-like riffing and completely unintelligible lyrics... "Raw Life" is a lurching, undead-Golem of a riff/song, and highlights one of the qualities of this record-- it's just as rawly-produced as its predecessor-- you can hear absolutely every ambient sound during the recording, and (during the silences at least), it's pretty fucking cool; it underscores the heavier riffs once they start back up, and "Raw Life" clearly shows this effect.
"Blood of Desire" roars out of the gate, blastbeats at first then D-beats, then, with a Zeus/ Odin-like bellow, hits what is arguably the most "memorable" of the tunes here....
Short version: they're Entombed, got very fat and very pissed off-- can't move quickly at all, weighs 300 pounds (136 kilograms to my European brothers and sisters, 21 1/2 stone to my Irish homies) and would squash you without even thinking twice about it, though probably wheezing through the whole endeavor.
"In Arms of Nothing" intros with the same badass bass than Interminable Night started with....
Overall, there's a very slight change (I hesitate to say "evolution") from their previous record, and this consists in inching further down the death metal spectrum, ever-so-slightly away from the D-beat that characterized their previous record, Interminable Night. I can't say it's better or worse; just very slightly different.
To reuse a metaphor, it's death metal Coca-Cola. It's not new Coke, it's not diet Coke, and it's definitely not Cherry or Vanilla coke, what with their increased sweetness....
But how many Cokes have you drunk in your life so far? Hundreds to thousands, right? And they were all pretty good, yeah?
Deathless Master is your latest two-liter of D-beat-ish Death Metal.
If you love this very particular beverage, this is for you.
Only a real friend will send you Pussy in the mail. Thankfully I have such a friend in Racer. He could have been greedy and kept the Pussy all for himself, but no, he let me have it. A month or so ago, Racer said he was going to concentrate his Ripple ramblings on his beloved but neglected Proto-Metal report. His reviews of bands like Toad, Jerusalem, Iron Claw, etc was a big factor for me getting involved with these clowns a few years ago. Jerusalem's album is a real favorite of mine and I was thrilled to find out that they gave birth to Pussy.
Jerusalem's self titled album was released in 1972 and produced by Ian Gillan. That's all it took for me to pick up a copy of Rockadrome's reissue of it. Thankfully the music was just as primitively heavy as I had hoped but I must have forgotten that the band later morphed into Pussy. So when this showed up I rushed straight to the stereo to get a taste of this Pussy. It did not disappoint. This is some fine, fine Pussy indeed! While not as heavy, Pussy's Invasion is a definite growth from Jerusalem and reminds me a lot of the band Hard Stuff, another band associated with Deep Purple. Bassist/vocalist Paul Dean was the main songwriter for both bands and there's a definite refinement in the material and the playing. He's joined by Jerusalem drummer Ray Sparrow. Guitar duties were originally handled by Bob Cooke who was later replaced by Brian Goff. Tracks 1- 10 were recorded for an album that was never released with Brian and the bonus tracks from their original single and outtakes are played by Bob. Both guitarists are nothing fancy, but solid British blues-rock players. Everything was produced by Ian Gillan, who also throws in some backing vocals and percussion.
Black Earth. Dwell on the words for a second. Imagine it. Inhale it. Feel it in your hands. Black. Rich. Pungent. Dirty. Fertile. Moist.
Six words that best describe the uber talented shit kickin’ powerhouse three piece from Austin, Texas. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Black Earth.
The essence of our existence is the earth itself. Where all good things come from. Under the sun. Holding the water. The earth. Black loam. The kind that gets under the nails and stains your cuticles. (cute testicals?). In the same gritty vein as Americana rocker greats Leroy Justice and the Brought Low from New York City, and sparked with a renewed vigor, Black Earth come roaring back with their euphoric sophomore album “Pink Champagne” produced by Chris “Frenchie” Smith.
Make no mistake, they have “that sound”. The sound that’s going to go big come hell or highwater. You can hear it in the strength and depth of their song writing prowess and musicianship, the sheer power of their delivery and the interwoven, in each other’s pocket, synchronous gel jamability of their live show. The chemistry is more than evident. These guys would KILL live! And they have a reputation for doing just that. As their bio reads, “they demonstrate a lot of versatility. They’re tenacious live and can perform at will”. They’re apt to “go off the deep end into an improvisational tangent”. According to legend, they once did a thirty minute set and only played three songs. The crowd ate it up. Singer/guitar player Jason Calise captures a potent vocal combination of Mark Lanegan from the Screaming Trees and Ian Astbury from The Cult. Influential moments from the Rolling Stones, Sheepdogs, Seven Mary Three, Faces also leak into their sound like friends dropping by for a drink and a tickle.
Their bio continues – “Lots of indie bands use titles so generic that their fans have no clue about the light and dark places in the heart that the songs emerge from. Not so with Black Earth, who declared ‘Hell Yeah’ from the get go on their 2008 album ‘That’s Right, We’re Goin’ Balls Deep’—a collection that also included high energy fare like ‘Whatever Happened to Drinkin’ Whiskey and Kickin’ Ass?’.
Don’t sugar coat it boys.
“Continuing the theme of high hopes followed by shattered expectations, the three began work on Pink Champagne during some of the darkest, heaviest individual periods of their lives. Yet amidst the darkness and personal crossroads, there’s also a feeling that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. This record also shows a different side of the band. ‘We've been through a lot of difficult times, member changes, you name it’ says bassist Dave Rangel. ‘The one thing that has kept us together is the fact that we persevere and our love for music. Through this perseverance, we've been able to create some of our greatest moments. When the chips are down, we keep stepping up’. Pink Champagne begins in and then emerges from a much darker place resulting in an emotionally compelling work”.
Ten songs in ten days. Take no prisoners fellas.
The album kicks off with the twangy bluesy, somewhat countrified DEAR LADY LEAN. It offers up a grass chewin’, tabacco spittin’ feel featuring the rich, raspy vocal work of Jason Calise. The keys sweetly blend the instrumentation on this number. To quote Gord Downie from The Tragically Hip, it conjures up images strollin’ down a corduroy dirt country road on a dusty hot summer’s day pondering where the next paycheck’s coming from and whether the power will still be on when you get home.
The opening chords of FACE DOWN IN THE GUTTER kick ass! The freakin’ tone drips with so much texture and taste it would make Gordon Ramsey blush. It transitions into a flat out rocker while the vocals take on a more condensed, urgent feel - a perfect fit. Skins monger Jason Reece performs rhythmic gymnastics on the kit while Dave Rangel ‘s bass runs are lockstep. A couple of timely fuzzed out reprieves in the middle and near the end paint a different perspective. Calise opens up the throttle on his otherworldly tone towards the end - just fucking epic intonations on the solo. Lots of way cool FX here too and he works the baby wah like he’s spankin’ a wayward bastard child. This stubborn number just does not want to quit!
HER SONG – if this song was written for somebody’s wife or girlfriend then she must be a pretty special person. It has a very delicate Pearl Jam-esque quality to the guitar sound and song structure. Supported by a magnificent background Hammond wash, the song explodes in a Billy Duffy inspired burst in the middle and again at the end before it returns to its original introspective roots. Once again, Jason Calise squeezes out an exquisite fuzzed out solo near the end dripping with thick, savoury overmodulated tone! This puppy’s spewing chunks. Up front backup vocals bring it home.
LIVIN’ AND LOVIN’ is a hard driving, raucous rocker with an intro. reminiscent of the opening of Rod Stewart’s “Stay With Me” - only on speed. Eventually things settle back into a steady rock groove augmented by a fun, quirky bridge. Total live show fist pumper.
MY PRIVATE HELL – the title speaks for itself and the distorted guitar drives the dark point home and then some. This dark little ditty’s a no holds barred, straight up, no bullshit rocker featuring even grittier vocals with no shortage of cowbell, a sweet chorus and a raunchy, rippin’ solo that’s a perfectly imperfect fit (you read that right). Things pick up toward the end as the pace morphs into a full on gallop. The Brought Low salute.
NO WAY BACK assaults your earholes with classic Bad Company/BTO type power chords right off the top. It’s a simple, catchy tune that will ignite crowds into a rousing round of the chorus at a live show. A tried, tested and true head banger for those down front.
The title track PINK CHAMPAGNE is a sweet, complex acoustic number that really smacks of the Screaming Trees in terms of feel and tone, highlighted by some newly minted, prominent, lip smacking female background vocals.
SHE DON’T WANT IT – the Valient Thorr inspired rolling riff off the top has you grasping for your pint of the good stuff and raising it in a collective salute to this hard chugging, tongue-in-cheek rocker that hollers out a delectable chorus once again smacking of the mighty Brought Low. Who’s complaining?
SINGLE STITCH is a great example of Black Earth’s superior song writing talent. Epic in the most pulchritudinous haunting way. Sublime reverbed mouth harp sets up the laid back feel of the song. About three quarters of the way through, the guitar chimes in with more outrageous , over-modulated fuzzed out tones on the solo. Finger lickin’ good!
SOMETHING ABOUT YOU is the longest song on the album and that’s a good thing. It’s a stunning piece of song writing. Right from the peeling opening chords and subsequent gloriously refined fuzzed out tones. Jason Reece works the kit like a blacksmith pounding out a heavy masterpiece with gorgeous fills. The song is intensely percussive and he attacks the skins once again like a mad rhythmic magician. There’s more than a scent of the mighty Brought Low on this number as well which is certainly a welcome influence. I also detect a slight Ray Davies/Kinks thing goin’ on too. The reprieve in the middle showcases some mouth watering, hollowed out voice work as the BE boys take us on an extended psychedelic magic carpet ride exploring distant sonic galaxies. This song is VERY indicative of what they’re capable of pulling off live. It moves to a full gallop about three quarters in, right through to a rowdy, fist frenzied finish.
“As the title Pink Champagne indicates, Black Earth has a lot to celebrate. Successful tours of Europe and the U.S. have allowed them to share the stage with killer bands from both sides of the pond like Blue Cheer, Throw Rag, Burning Brides, The Meatmen, Supersuckers, Red Fang, Early Man, Atomic Bitchwax, Gogol Bordello, Jimmy Chamberlain Complex, Peter Pan Speedrock, Jingo De Lunch, Sasquatch, Dixie Witch, Young Heart Attack and Nashville Pussy. Black Earth was also featured in Classic Rock Magazine's October Issue # 150 with their song “Face Down in the Gutter” added to the compilation ‘The First Cut is the Deepest”.
And so they raise a toast to you.
Black Earth is Jason “Ving” Calise on vocals and guitar, Dave Rangel on vocals and bass and Jason Reece on drums (also of “And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead”).
Hailing from the Midwest, (I’ve seen that they are from Kansas and Kansas City, and there is a Kansas City, Kansas, so both could be right), we have Stonehaven. They’ve come through Seattle a couple of times in the past year but unfortunately I did not catch their live shows, but I will rectify that in short order the next time they come through town, because this is the good stuff. The Midwest is not known as a stronghold of black metal, but these guys certainly own what they do.
This is as grim and frosty a release as any Norwegian black metallers could put out. Upon first listen I was positive this band had to be from Europe, so yay America for putting out some of the classic sounding stuff. And actually, classic sounding isn’t entirely true; because Stonehaven do mix it up a bit. I hear some slight nods to straight up death metal in their music, and they are also not so tied into the tremolo picking drone that a lot of black metal bands fall into. That drone stuff can be very good when it is done well, but in my humble opinion very few bands actually do it well, so you can wind up listening to a nine minute track that bores you to tears. These guys avoid that by mixing up tempos, mixing up progressions, etc, and as I said above, it’s really good stuff.
Album opener “Suffering The Swine Array” pulls no punches and just starts things off right at full speed. There are no classical or operatic type openings with this band, just good old fashioned black metal coming right at you. This leads right into “Death Fetter” which has some spots that have a death metal feel to them in terms of tempo and the playing. I think my favorite track on the album is the fourth, “Addressing The Scorn Pole”. It alternates between straight up black metal time signatures and a waltz time, almost folk metal feel, and the transitions are done really well. I have to say that the songwriting is one of the big strengths of this band. Every track on this release is well written. Nothing on this album sounds out of place or extraneous. It all fits, it all sounds good together, and makes my black metal heart feel good.
I have to talk for a minute about the album cover. It was designed by one of the band members to represent an actual event in Norwegian history from the late 10th century. King Olaf apparently wanted his subjects to convert to Christianity and was very adamant about it, to the point that when a particular pagan priest refused to convert, he wanted to make an example of the guy. So King Olaf and his henchmen tortured this priest publicly and the culmination was forcing the priest to eat a live snake. While I don’t condone the forced Christianity, I always love the zeal of the Norwegians and the other Scandinavian folks who brought us the Vikings and so much great mythology.
There are a total of 8 songs on this release and they are all top notch black metal. Do yourself a favor, check out this album, check these guys out live if they come through your town, and just dig the black metal goodness that is Stonehaven.
When future music historians look back at the the career of Swiss sci-fi-toned stoner, heavy rockers, Feuerzeug, they're gonna to look at the album Dead Wahines and Tsumanis as the crux point of their career.
Feuerzeug (swiss for the lighter) blew me away with their hyper-charged stoner debut Drive Fast and Crash which I likened to "a herd of a thousand brontosaurs rampaging in your living room." As best I can tell, the whole stoner community got right in line behind these guys, digging the urgency they laid into their riffing, the Motorhead-speed and power, the sci-fi twinges in their guitar tone and vibe. And to be honest, the boys could've gotten away with simply making Drive Faster and Crash Harder, and no one would've complained.
But they didn't.
I don't know if Dead Wahines and Tsunamis is a concept album or not, but the grandness of their scope and vision is readily apparent in song titles like "Cyclops Will Be Beheaded" "Lieuplorodon VS Giant Orthocone," and Magma, Lava, and Burned Karma." Nothing that made Drive Fast and Crash so immediate is missing from this new album, but so much has been added.
If there was one drawback to Drive Fast, it was that the relentless pace and systematic pounding of the riffing made for a rather single-minded listen. It would seem that the boys recognized that, or just felt the natural progression to stretch out more, push the boundaries, play with styles. Create something new.
And they've done just that. Yes, Feuerzeug is on the border of actually becoming a brutally heavy, stoner prog band. And if the musical development that is so apparent on Dead Wahines continues, I expect the next album by these Swiss madmen will be one of the more amazing albums of the decades.
But back to Dead Wahines. "Cyclops Will Be Beheaded" starts things off straight in the Drive Fast and Crash vein. Hyper-intense riffing with that now familiar futuristic-fuzz tone to the guitar whips out in a frenzy of meth-adled acrid smoke. Pounding, and I mean pounding. No one pounds out the riffs like Feuezeug. It's something about the way the guiar, the bass and the drums all attack the song with the same ferocity and timing. It's a thing of power, that's for sure. No languid stoner riff-groove here. Ferocity is the key. "Cyclops" winds through it's 4 minutes with a multitude of riff changes, sideways assaults and full-frontal attacks, and includes a truly memorable chorus that's about as sing-along as stoner metal gets. All of which crashes dead on into "Landkreuzer" another nitro-blast of sci-fi fuzzed riff-abundance. Touches of Monster Magnet in a bloody fistfight with Motorhead reign supreme here. Raw power and froth at the mouth intensity is the order of the game.
All of which is great, but without a change in dynamics, I'd venture to say the album would wear a bit thin on me after a couple of listens. And Feuerzeug know this, as "Landkreuzer" ends with a tasty bit of fuzzed blitzing, "Evel Knievel Had Kissed the Devil" percolates out next. No matter what images that title might conjure in my head, the song was nothing like I expected. Riding a scratchy, near-acoustic guitar riff, the band joins in gingerly, gently, creating something that is almost jazzy in its spartan beauty. The rage and power kick back in at around the 30 second mark, but the riffing is different; more spacious, more room to breathe. Then . . .what is that? A funk scratch guitar? A soulful bass run? A jazzy break? Holy crap! This is exactly what the album needed. A refreshing change in dynamic that doesn't ignore the rage and explosive energy when it ramps up, but knows how to slow down. Toss in a searing, fuzzed out guitar solo and this is the most unique song I've ever heard from the boys. The song builds and falls and rises and crests all the way to the finish.
Where "I'll Scratch Until I Bleed a Flood" picks up, with its terrifying riff cutting through the silence like a scythe. But again, we got something new and totally cool going on here. Staying away from their all out assault and power, the boys play with the balance of restraint and bludgeoning. Time changes. Muted moments of silence. Riff mutations. It's all here with a vocal line that reminds me of The Automatic Automatic of all bands. Cool stuff.
"Nitroghostcar" jumps back into the Drive Fast and Crash blitzkreig vein, which is awesome after the change-up of the last two songs. And just as the title suggests, this is a pedal to the medal, tires smoking drag-race of riffing, a cool twisting guitar solo, and . . what's that? A keyboard center fill? I can't really tell, but it's a nice new texture. "Fusion Van" reimagines Fu Manchu in style and big retro-70's riffing, which blends right into the masterful two part stoner/prog epic "Cruising the Desert." Part 1 races ahead in a mostly straight forward Kyuss attack until the very end, when the pace slows and the acoustic come out which blends right into the sweeping, majestic neo-psychedelic (think Dead Man) Part 2. Like a hot wind blowing across the desert floor, the song floats on the breeze of those acoustics, undulating and drifting in a very prog like passage, until the heat builds back up about 1:13 in. Mountains of heavy guitar descend like a darkened, storm-cloud filled sky, laying down thunder and the rare crash of lightning. A very cool passage and great change up for the album.
"Release the Kraken" takes this new neo-prog direction even farther, traveling through it's 9:48 of heaviness like some demented sci-fi/mythological short story. Probably the most ambitious song I've ever heard from the Swiss men. Walls of fuzz eventually give away to a muted passage of crushing doom-laden riffery and sludge-paced malevolence.
That's enough song-by-song to get a taste of what awaits you. In the end, I still think that Feuerzeug sometimes tends a bit towards a bludgeoning sameness with some of their riffing, but underneath that, there's something really cool going on here. Dead Wahines and Tsunamis sounds like the work of a group that is deciding to collectively stretch themselves out of their comfort zone, and doing it with great success. For that reason, this sounds like a crux album to me. A moment of transition as the band break from the constraints of their past and move into the limitless possibilities of the future.
With that in mind, I fully expect their next album to be a stoner/psych/prog masterpiece of epic proportions.
If you like faster Sabbath-rock that hails from the realm of Acid King and Sleep, then Dark Earth is something you'd dig. The demo is on The Book of Faces. Check out the link below.
The first and self-titled track reminded me of Orange Goblin. Right on. 'Evil King' is a fast and driving slap-in-the-face of a track - kinda thrashy, even. And, to close a sweet demo, '42012' blasts off into the outer rims of the Riff Galaxy, leaving me to soar into head space.
In true northern Cali fashion, they navigate the Riff well. I look forward to future realeases from the band.
If you're in the area, check 'em out live at Johnny V's Bar in San Jose on Tuesday, April 24th.
Exceptional experimental musicians make me ecstatic. Every so often there comes a wave of really good music and an argument can be made the most recent occurrence came on January 31, 2012. Two of my favorite albums of the year, Gotye’s Making Mirrors and Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die, were released on the same day.
You can argue its pure coincidence, but I think not. The old proverb “all good things come in threes” comes to mind when discussing this auspicious occurrence and Grimes latest album Visions, which was also released on January 31, 2012, proves my point. This dream pop damsel first came to my attention when she toured with one of my favorite singers Lykke Li last year. Recently, my awesome friend Amy reintroduced Grimes to me and I couldn’t be happier.
Last year while I was composing an article about Record Store Day I came across my first unique Grimes memorabilia and introduction to this amazing artist. For those unaware, like the recent resurgence of vinyl, cassettes have become the latest and coolest boutique items music collectors can purchase. Lately, many underground artists have self-released their EPs on cassette tapes to give locals a fun throwback feel with their music listening experience. Believe me the whole nostalgia thing really resonates with yours truly. As a result I became exposed to many new artists because of this cassette phenomenon, especially when I visited Vacation Vinyl in Silver Lake for the first time. During that first visit I discovered Grimes debut Geidi Primes on cassette and was immediately intrigued by the cover.
Shortly thereafter, Grimes started touring with Lykke Li and Grimes was now on my radar. However, searching for her music (physically) proved challenging. Even though I still purchase music (YES, I REALLY DO BUY ALL MY OWN MUSIC) I refused to order online and waited to purchase her music at a record store. Luckily, Amy made me a mix CD to hold me over until I was able to find Grimes. As luck would have it, by the time I actually found her debut CD Geidi Primes I managed to purchase her entire catalog including Halfaxa and the recently released Visions, which is why I’m writing this review.
Visions delivers a diverse, yet distinctive avant-garde album comprised with unmistakable hook-heavy songs that transcend genres. Grimes greets her audience with an astonishing repertoire that it’s hard to believe the range she possesses. Some songs are perfect for the dance floor while others feel out of this world with a nod to 80s pop music. If you enjoy artists like Lykke Li, Crystal Castles, and the Cocteau Twins, Grimes is a must listen!
“Infinite Love Without Fulfillment” opens Visions and packs a wallop with weaving witch house and electropop sounds mashed up. From the beginning, listeners are pleasantly exposed to Grimes’ vocal experimentation with her infectious melodies.
“Genesis” is an absolutely addictive track that transports your body and mind to a whole new level. The layered vocals on this track truly enhance this delightful dreamscape visionary song. “Genesis” is arguably the best song of 2012 and easily one of the year’s Top 10 songs. Listening to this song, it’s easy to understand why Grimes is so mesmerizing.
Considering how much I enjoyed Cliff Martinez’s Drive soundtrack and The Social Network soundtrack by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor, “Oblivion” seems like an obvious choice for a song to enjoy. The slick synth structured beats are so infectious it’s hard not to fall in love with this song.
Like I said, the range for this bedroom belladonna is unbelievable. Imagine Nine Inch Nails with robotic backing vocals and you would get Grimes’ “Eight.” The eerily excellent electronic “Circumambient” conjures crazy imagery perfect for strobe lights. One of the highlights on Visions is when Grimes demonstrates her octave range a la Minnie Riperton (“Lovin’ You”) around the 2:44 mark. Wow, she has an amazing pair of pipes. Even something more accessible like “Vowels = Space and Time” feels perfect for the club. Grimes loves it all.
The absurdly awesome bassline on “Be a Body” really recharges this song halfway through and makes it a must “dance to” track. The Crystal Castles sounding “Colour of Moonlight (Antiochus)” featuring Doldrums follows. The soothing "Symphonia IX (My Wait Is U)" is a beautiful flowing dark dream while the ever enticing “Nightmusic” featuring Majical Cloudz possesses rich, remarkable rhythms. Two delicious dream pop tracks, “Skin” and “Know the Way” finish Visions.
Grimes showcases the odd world we all live in with each of her albums. Whether utilizing computer generated genres, grimewave, industrial, dream pop, new age, etc., Grimes retains an ever expanding repertoire of influences that permeates through her ingenious music.
Folk music is just that - the music of common folk. The life of the vagabond, wanderer, hobo, itinerant farm worker, equipped with an old acoustic guitar, travelling the country, seeking temporary work, telling it like it is - that is the origin of folk music. It is simply about folks’ daily lives and concerns. It is the music of the downtrodden and has historically gained popularity during difficult times.
Slavery and the Civil War brought folk to the forefront with popular tunes like Down By The Riverside and We Shall Overcome. It experienced a resurgence in the 1930’s during the dust bowl and Great Depression giving birth to such artists as Woody Guthrie. It also started to compartmentalize. Bill Monroe’s music slowly became a separate genre - bluegrass - although it started as folk.
In the 1960’s folk again became music for the masses with its protests of injustice and reflections on the human condition. Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, The Band, The Grateful Dead, The Byrds, CSN&Y, Poco, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and a legion of others resurrected the folk music of the past and wrote new songs that modernized it to appeal to a much more urban audience. They also used it as a medium for political action as a focus for populist unity with power to influence government and politics.
The Country has been at war for over 10 years. The middle class has lost its jobs and homes. Monied interests buy their influence in Washington, D.C. and State Capitols and seek to control what the rest of us see, hear and do. It is no small wonder that folk music is again experiencing a resurgence.
Jason Serious’ latest album, Undercover Folk, consists of ten tunes that bring folk music into the 21st Century. Serious is an amazingly talented songwriter. Like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and the stellar folk talents that came before him, Serious can write a song that moves the listener in time and place. He can evoke passion - from hope to hopelessness, from injustice to anger, from desire to love. However. his is not protest music. It is music of, about and for the common man. . Instrumental accompaniment is simple and traditional, yet eloquent and elegant. Guitar, violin, drums, horns, piano, banjo and violin all are sparingly applied. The album also takes folk in an unexpected direction merely by Serious’ choice of sidemen to play with him. The country-folk tinge is actually played primarily by Europeans. It makes the music that much more inclusive and, quite frankly, beautiful.
Songs like Met Jack Kerouac combine an old time shuffle with amazingly fun lyrics and a wonderful Dixieland feel. Purple Eyes, with its interesting harmonies, tells an engrossing story of loss, anxiety and life. On A Tide is as close to a protest song as Serious gets and, really, it requires extrapolation to see it as such. The album ends with Buckets of Gin, a slow drunk shuffle. It is the folk song equivalent of a late night Tom Waits ballad.
The album is like putting on an old coat. It is comfortable and warm with wear showing around the edges. Each time you put your hand in a pocket you pull out something familiar and you are excited by the rediscovery. Although the jacket may not be fashionable right now, it once was and will be again, Undercover Folk will give you a chance to search your pockets and your soul.
Death/grind is the new thrash metal, updated from around 1985, to now:
it's sophisticated in terms of musical structure, rapid key changes, and challenging melodic (riff) formations-- it's hard to play, yet blisteringly furious (i.e., aggressive and fast)... a great balance of savagery and technical ability: witness Danny Lilker's definition: technical and yet intense....
Death/Grind, as a genre, is useless played at anything less than loudest-sound-possible (194 Db) volume: that's where it's made to be.
Like extreme forms of free jazz, this music is meant to permeate you, to absolutely be your everything for the time you're listening to it-- or to be nothing.
This is the complete opposite of background music.
BUT: give it the chance, and this will OWN you. It's perfectly, ridiculously extreme in that Death/Grind way, but is also full of surprises and tiny evolutions and tempo, key and texture changes enough to keep your cerebellum interested, while your reptile brain writhes in ectothermic ecstasy....
There's sweep-picked solos, blast beats, breakdown (all while being respectably detuned), blah blah blah-- you like extreme metal?
Monolith of Humanity is worth your while.
--Horn
[Monolith of Inhumanity is released worldwide on Metal Blade records on May 8, 2012.]
Jeezus, I forgot all about this VoiVod demo. It's been over 25 years since I last heard it and just as long since I even thought about it. I feel so ashamed since I think about VoiVod a lot, especially about how much I love their first album War & Pain. When Metal Blade reissued it in 2004 as a deluxe 3 disc version for it's 20th anniversary I was happily reunited with the live Morgoth Invasion demo from December 1984. I never spent much time with the 3rd multi media disc, which contained some of the material from the To The Death demo. I could have spent the past 8 years listening to this stuff!
Oh well, my mistake. So here it is in 2012 and Alternative Tentacles has put out To The Death in all it's belligerent 1984 blood, guts & beer glory. A lot of VoiVod fans prefer the later albums that are a bit more refined but I've always been partial to the early ones. Their early material is some of the most abrasive metal ever committed to tape and this demo is even more obnoxious than War & Pain. The fidelity is actually pretty good for a demo. Personally, I'd prefer a bit more tape hiss to give it that dubbed a zillion times sonic wash, but I can always do it myself on my own deck. All of the instruments are audible and Snake's guttural vocals are plenty loud so you can enjoy his broken English lyrics delivered with his thick French Canadian accent. The real highlight of this album is Piggy's incredible guitar playing. Man, he smokes! He was probably around 25 years old at the time of this recording but his playing style is fully formed. The riffing is just killer. It doesn't sound like there are many overdubs and he really gets wild on the solos. A true one of a kind musician. God bless Piggy. RIP.
All of the songs from War & Pain are present and are even rawer than the ones that were originally released on their debut album. Things get a little loose at times but what do you expect from a bunch of dudes drunk on Canadian beer playing at skull crushing volume. They were probably banging their heads harder than you ever have, too. You also get a great version of "Slaughter In A Grave" that turned up on the second album and a frantic cover of Mercyful Fate's "Evil." And there are not one, but two Venom covers! "Bursting Out" is a perfect showcase for Blacky's "blower" bass and they use "Buried Alive" as an intro for "Suck Your Bone." Totally metal. Not for the weak or timid. Only for those who live to the death forever!
This may be less a story about a solid band than about a great city close to my heart. And it’s not because the band is less deserving. It’s because the story of the city is tightly interwoven with the raison d’etre of the band.
The city is Detroit. The band is KNIFE.
You’d have to be living under a rock to be oblivious about the incredibly hard times D’town’s endured over the last several years, even before the bottom fell out of the auto industry in 2008. Boarded up factories. Boarded up schools. Boarded up hotels. Boarded up neighbourhoods. The economic devastation is staggering. It’s enough to break your heart . Their heart. But in the midst of this bleak wasteland there’s still hope. They’re fighting back. Pockets of vibrancy and vitality fueled by the driven, focused and resilient SOB’s that call Detroit home. Despite the desolation and adversity, they’ve kept their eye on the prize and never wavered from their “damn the torpedoes” point of view. They didn’t let their dire circumstances affect their outlook on life. Bottom line is, Detroiters are good people and they know how to fuckin’ rock.
Such is KNIFE. Like a firey Phoenix rising up from the ashes, Knife embodies the same resilient attitude of their hometown in everything they do – their music, their lyrics, their performance and their in your face, fuck you attitude. They play with heart after a full transplant. Knife fearlessly leaps headlong into the moshpit of hard times doing it their way come hell or high water. Just like how D’town has always done it. They don’t fuck around. It’s their way or the highway. A bastion of artistic freedom in an over regulated, politically correct conformist world. They cut straight through the bullshit.
Knife has shared the stage with heavy weights like Tool, Intronaut, Fu-Manchu, Black Tusk, Hellmouth, Easy Action and Lo-Pan just to name just a few. When bands of that calibre are paying attention it means it’s time for the rest of us to sit up and take notice. Wakey, wakey waveriders. An enhanced Teedified edited version of their smart bio says it best: “Knife is a sonic colossus. They cast a huge, riffladen shadow over the metropolitan Detroit area. This beast is devouring the city block by block and venue by venue. Drawing on their eclectic heritage, Knife coalesces around the riff much like their forefathers did in Black Sabbath. You can trace their auditory bloodline to pioneering bands like Rollins Band, Crowbar, Danzig, Kyuss and Led Zeppelin as well. Knife powers forth an inimitable, stand alone and individual reinterpretation of the music that fuels them. They are a razor sharp conduit of doom, brooding anger and the powerfully destructive side of mother nature. You can hear the history and soul in their craft. And yet the band is intent on carving out their own unique brand of heavy blues quite unlike anything we’ve heard before. Their metal is tempered with mature hooks, cast iron song writing and articulate, soulful solos that firmly plant them in a whole other arena”.
The bio continues: “Knife is pedigree. When you put five masters of their respective crafts in a Detroit cellar together, you’re gonna get something that stands out from the tepid bullshit people try to pass off as music these days. You’re gonna get something sincere, something with perspective and something that will cut your goddam head clean off your shoulders. Knife isn’t fucking around”. They sure aren’t . They’ll gut your earholes.
As we all know, Detroit has a long line of legendary, original pioneering rock acts - MC5, Iggy Pop & the Stooges, Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, The Muggs… the list goes on. Knife continues that musical legacy/dynasty. They’ve captured a hybrid sound that’s as varied as their musical heritage. “Each member draws from a wide range of experience in the punk, blues, stoner, metal and rock scenes. From playing in Andrew WK’s early death metal band Kathode to rocking in Seduce. From pioneering Michigan metal band Thoughts of Ionesco to seminal punks The Meatmen. From LA’s Mother to Detroit’s Speedball. From crust punks Nema to the wrecking ball that is Year of the Pig. From Heresy to the Holy Fire”. I think you’re getting the big picture.
Make no mistake. This is no bullshit, balls out, hEAVy ass, blue collar machine shop metal folks. But not machine shop in the meathead sense. Machine shop in the master class sense. It’s what these bad ass steel mongers are conjuring up in that cold, hard, dark, dank space that’s putting a dent in the collective earholes of rockdom. They’re creating tightly torqued high octane sonic power plants with monster thrust from molten iron, pressed and rolled, bent and banged through grinder sparks and acetylene blow torch licks forged out of their massive, swaggering riffs and smothered in a undercoating of audible rust.
Standout tracks include THE MESS… a brazen, bitchin’, frothing-at-the-mouth chugfest that spawns a rabid, full throttle hounds of hell gate charger reminiscent of some top shelf stoner bands like House of Broken Promises and Canadian east coast behemoths, Iron Giant. THIS FIELD WAS MADE FOR KILLING… when was the last time you heard slide guitar in a freakin’ metal song saddled right next to a scorching Tony Iommi-esque solo? How about never. And the thundiferous OUTRIDER? Who wouldn’t want to be in the mosh pit for this bad ass mutha.
Jeff Uberti from the band Hellmouth summed Knife up best. “Their songs are thick and contain just the right balance of pure rock fury and sludgy heaviness to make the most discerning head bang”. Couldn’t agree more.
Knife are Eric Blanchard on guitar, Nathan LeLandais-Miller on bass, Curt Massof on vocals, Chuck Burns on guitar and John Lehl on drums.
Waveriders, can you say smooth operator? Good, I knew you could. If you were not aware there has been a change made to our language. Smooth operator is now spelled Brother Ali. Not that anyone remotely familiar with Brother Ali doubted how smooth he can be on record, but with the release of The Bite Marked EP the whole country now has to concede the point. This free seven song EP was released the day before Valentine’s Day, and it is as smooth as the surface of an undisturbed pond.
Brother Ali is one of those artists that made an immediate impact upon me when I first heard his music. It’s been five years since I decided to pick up a copy of his album The Undisputed Truth, and I’ve never looked back. This man is not only a great lyricist. He’s a storyteller of the highest order. His always honest, sometimes scathing lyrics connect with the listener in a trustworthy manner that I find to be quite rare. No matter whether he rhymes about personal triumphs and failings, or weaves a compelling piece of fiction highlighting a specific societal ill the listener can always tell that what they are hearing is coming straight from the heart. Brother Ali will connect directly to your emotional core. If you remain unaffected, you’re purposely not paying attention.
The Bite Marked Heart EP, in comparison with his other releases, is singularly focused. You won’t find the next club anthem here. The music varies from mid- to low-tempo and sounds very elegant thanks to the exemplary production work of Jake One and Ant. All seven of the songs on the EP, in one way or another, address the same issue. Thanks to a Facebook link I found a wonderful interview on www.rubyhornet.com where Brother Ali explains his concept. He states that, “the idea of the Bite Marked Heart is that we’re dealing in the world of human interactions with imperfect human beings interacting with each other and trying to make a world that’s conducive to living in a dignified way. The idea of the Bite Marked Heart is that when we’re in love with somebody, we’re at the most vulnerable, the most naked, and we open ourselves up to each other almost completely or as much as we do with anybody. Then we proceed to hurt each other and get hurt.” His explanation continued on, but I think you waveriders get the gist.
Folks, do yourselves a favor and download The Bite Marked Heart EP. It’s fantastic and it’s free! That is one terrific combination if you ask me. What are you waiting for? Go now.
Adam Warrock & Mikal kHill - The Browncoats Mixtape
Thank goodness for revelations brought about from attending live concerts! A few weeks back I witnessed a tremendous hip hop show. That show marked the first time I had seen Adam Warrock. Actually, that was the first time I had heard more than a guest verse from the man. He was good waveriders. Very good. But that’s not what we’re talking about right now. No, we’re talking about an important piece of information that Mr. Warrock casually dropped during his performance. It turns out that working with another artist named Mikal kHill he released an entire mixtape dedicated to Joss Whedon’s television show Firefly and its related film Serenity.
How in the name of (insert whatever you believe in here) did I not know about this until now? I wholeheartedly love Firefly/Serenity! Wait, I’m not sure you read that correctly. I ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY LOVE THAT SHOW! It easily ranks as one of my favorite shows of all time. In fact, if you’ve ever seen the show it is incredibly likely that you feel the same way. Firefly is a property that inspires great loyalty in its fans. People like yours truly. When I discovered that I was unaware of the existence of this mixtape I felt like slapping myself. Hard. It doesn’t matter that the mixtape only came out a few months back in September of 2011. The fact that I didn’t know about it until after its release is galling enough. What makes this situation worse is that The Browncoats Mixtape is superb!
Clearly I am not an impartial observer, but for arguments sake let’s assume I had never heard of Firefly. I would still think this mixtape is pretty spectacular. Adam Warrock is a charismatic, precise lyricist. His words often feel like they carry great weight thanks to his sincere delivery. Also, whether it is done on purpose or not, Mr. Warrock’s wordplay is very deliberate. It is abundantly clear that these lyrics were contemplated over and carefully constructed to achieve maximum effect on the listener. On the production side of things, Mikal kHill utilizes samples taken exclusively from the TV show and movie to create a unique sonic tapestry that blends contemplative folk music with modern beats. Most songs have a laid back swagger that is downright infectious. If I were forced to choose a favorite song it would have to be “River”. That track is utterly captivating!
Waveriders, go download The Browncoats Mixtape immediately. It is free, and it is marvelous! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to listen to it again.
I went to a metal show last night and it just hit me how much I really love metal. I hadn’t been to a show for a while, as I’ve mostly been attending shows on the mellower side of the spectrum. It was in a sweaty little bar, on a Monday night, the bands were either locals or out of town with just enough resources to put a small tour together. There weren’t any big name bands, there were maybe 75 of my fellow metal heads there, but it was just awesome. I listen to a lot of metal either for these reviews or for my radio show, but there is nothing quite like being at a show, and feeling the metal. For me, there are very few better things in life, when it all comes together and you have a great time at a show.
So what does all that have to do with the new Job For A Cowboy CD? Not much, honestly. Except I really dig this new CD too. I’ve been a fan of the band since their beginnings. This seems to be another of those really polarizing bands, people seem to really love them, or really hate them, with not much in between. I know there are those who feel that the band just happened to be in the right place at the right time and that is the only reason they are successful, at least by metal standards. There are those who will tell you that you can’t tell one song from another, and yeah, there is a little of that. But they are damn good band and this new release really shows that.
Job For A Cowboy have gone through some lineup changes since their last release, and in my opinion the changes are for the better. They seem to have injected some new energy into the band and it is immediately noticeable. One of the previous criticisms of the band is that they played the much reviled “deathcore” style of metal. That is gone, let me tell you. Opener “Children Of Deceit” is a full on death metal assault and everything continues on from there. “Nourishment Through Bloodshed” and “Imperium Wolves” continue the bludgeoning. Then, lo and behold, something to shut up the haters. “Tongueless And Bound” comes along with an intro that verges on the black metal side, and there is some actual variance in tempo in this track. With this new lineup, there seems to be a new found sense of dynamics and variety in the song writing. I’d love this CD anyway, but these added features in the songs are pure gravy for me.
Tracks 5 and 6, “Black Discharge” and “The Manipulation Stream”, respectively, continue the brutality, but with some nice twists and turns. Many metal releases start out strong and seem to fizzle at the end, but “Demonocracy” ends on a high note, with a trio of powerful, hard hitting tracks in “The Deity Misconception”, “Fearmonger”, possibly the best JFAC track in their catalog, and “Tarnished Gluttony”. The final track is over 6 minutes, an eternity for this band, and really shows off their new song writing chops. This one is a definite change of pace from anything else they’ve ever recorded and a great way to close out the album.
If you’re determined to hate them, this release probably doesn’t go quite far enough to change your mind. But if you can keep your mind open, you’ll find a very strong release from a band that just keeps getting better as they go along.
In many ways, apb is as responsible for The Ripple Effect coming into existence as any band out there.
I don't know when it was that Pope and I first discussed the idea of The Ripple Effect, but our intentions weren't grand. We never set out to be a "big" music site. We didn't want to publish news or "hip" viral videos. Really, all we wanted was to review the enormous mass of CD's and vinyl in our own collections with a pointed eye towards those bands that never seemed to get their fair shake of fortune and fame. Music that should've caught a bigger ear than it ever did. We wanted to make ripples.
When that first review published in October of 2007, launching the Ripple upon the unsuspecting world, our first article was Something to Believe In, the killer punk/funk compilation of rare singles from Scottish underground post-punk legends, apb. It was only natural. I'd been burning apb into anyone's brain who'd give me a moment of their time for decades. At KSPC FM, apb was always heavy in my rotation, getting a spin at least weekly. Led by the explode-my-mind manic funk bass and school-boy vocals of Iain Slater, the pacemaker solid and crisp funky drumming of George Cheyne, and the epileptic spasms of punk guitar from Glenn Roberts, there's never been a band who sounded like them. If you stepped into the station at the right (or wrong) moment, you'd see a very compromising image of your disc jockey, Racer X, flailing around the studio in some uncoordinated white-boy-tries-to-funk dance, thumb thumping away on an imaginary bass, ass going in several wrong directions all at once. And if that didn't frighten you to death, I don't know what would.
But back in 2007, Something to Believe in had recently been celebrated in a deluxe-edition reissue, and as interest in the band was rekindled, a live set from the BBC was unleashed. It seemed like time was right for a reunion of the mad punk pioneering Scots.
And as fate would have it, right after I wrote that first review, George Cheyne contacted me with the news that the band had recently reformed and released their first album in more than 20 years. That album 3, proved that the crew still had it in all the right places. The punk was punkier, the funk was . . .er . . .funkier. Everything was tight and rocking and damn if it didn't feel good having apb back.
Well, 3 turned out to be only the beginning, because apb have just roared back with another new release, the feline-dangerously titled Jaguar and it proves defiantly that 3 was no freak flash-in-the-pan reunion. Those of you like me who love the classic apb sound, we just got fed a thick slice of manna from heaven.
Now, I gotta reveal my bias here. I have everything apb has ever released. I mean everything. Every 7" single on those tiny UK indy labels. Every 12" single and EP. Their albums, their test pressings. In fact, I have more apb 7" singles than drummer George has or even knew existed. So, I'm far from an impartial judge here.
But then the goal of the Ripple was never to be impartial, damn it. Our goal has always been to bring light to those bands and albums that just need to be heard. And believe me, Jaguar is one of them.
From the first bass thump and staccato slice of guitar that starts "Cradle to the Grave," this is the classic sound of apb post-punk funk roaring back to life. Ironically, blasting out a song about the indignities and lost dreams of getting older, apb sound positively time defiant. Iain's bass leads a bouncing funky swath that Glenn explodes into wide paths with his chopping blitz of chords. George buries his head and keeps that motoring onslaught on a straight line right to that place of punk funk nirvana. I dig it when the song jumps into hyperdrive for the bridge after the main verse, Glenn bringing a huge Gang of Four Andy Gill attack to his guitar. All leading up the the manic build before the centerpiece lyric "And you know you're not as young as you used to be." This is vintage apb. Could've appeared on any Oily Records or Red River release from the early eighties in the best sense of that thought.
Now, before we go any further, we gotta look at our words. Writing about apb isn't an easy thing because the way they merge big looping funky bass and drums with the pure staccato spams of punk guitar and energy means that I gotta write "punky" and "funky" a million times. There just isn't any other way to describe the alchemy of their fusion. So, from now on we're gonna create our own vocabulary. Can't use p-funk cause that terms already taken so I'm gonna go with Fu-punk. Weak I know, but it's all I got.
So, having coined the fu-punk term, apb bring it on full-force with "Down at the Store," ramping up the pace and the angular slash of the guitar, and bringing in the smatterings of classic punk apathetic nihilism and materialistic discontent with a surprising romantic twist. After Iain's bass rumble and George's fist-tight beat, Glen chops the chords to pieces. Iain rails "There is no motivation anymore/every thing is sold out at the store/the outside world is a crashing bore/everything is sold out at the store/except true love."
"Electric Boy" immediately follows next with dense and heavy descending chords through it's chorus and ass-groovy fu-punky verses. This is a huge, huge song for apb and unlike anything I'd heard from them before. And dig that polyrhythic percussion breakdown. That's a band burning nitro in all cylinders.
"First Dance" percolates out next as funky as apb get, with its finger-mad bass thumping, drum attack and stinging guitar sounding like something that could've appeared on the classic "Dancability 12." Then comes the big change. I'd heard a rumor that there was a guest vocalist coming, but I gotta say it still caught me by surprise. After grooving to apb for so many years, the sound of a voice other than Iain's rather thin, nasal tone sounded as out of place as former President Bush being offered a Rhodes scholarship. Just didn't compute. No offense to Jim Sheppard, but his work on "First Dance" and the title-track "Jaguar" just seemed like an interesting idea gone wrong. But only for a moment. On repeated listens, the mix of new vocals over that classic apb fu-punk settled in my ears and found a home. It helps that "First Dance" is just an electric slice of danceable funk and that "Jaguar" explores new territory in a mid-tempo, electro-funk vein. Either way, both songs stand proudly in the apb cannon now and Jim's voice adds texture and his own nuance.
Still, I have to admit my pleasure when "Tangle Wires" pounds out next with a nasty Undertones-esque punk directness with Iain's nasal whine firmly back in place. "You Give me Pain" rounds out the 7 songs with another masterstroke of unfettered apb fu-punk perfection. Shotgun bursts of guitar searing under Iain and George's pure funk mettle. High energy, high fun, with a touch of classic snottiness. A new apb classic.
I'll be the first to admit that apb may not be for every one, but damn, if they aren't the one for me. 30 years on, and I still haven't tired of the band. And if they keep pumping it out with this much timeless energy, I bet I've got another 30 years to go.
![Pink Champagne [Explicit]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51wCcbLiG4L._SL500_AA280_.jpg)
