Archive for Music
As I mentioned in an aside a while ago I didn’t get around to listening to Strapping Young Lad (I’ll use SYL from now) until very recently, even though I’ve known about them for a decade or so and thought about checking them out every time I heard them being played somewhere. Now I realize that it wasn’t a day too late. It’s pure extreme metal genius. Lots of bands play fast and heavy, but I can’t think of many bands that manage to play so much at such speed – the intricacy and depth really amazes me.
While the early albums were popularly labeled “industrial/death metal”, the two previous releases have been moving towards something I think of as “progressively crazy-assed metal” (I don’t think death metal is appropriate as anything but a speed indicator), and that is a continuing trend with The New Black.
So is it any good? You bet it is! It’s a big, steaming pile of pure brilliance. Alright, after the first spin I was a bit disappointed – or rather surprised – that there is a bit more lighter bits than before. But it didn’t take long until that became a part of the whole because, you know, when Mr. Hoglan steps it up behind those drums you can really feel your gut move. The man is a freaking machine. And the six-string insanity provided by Jed and Devin doesn’t make those downhill rides any smoother. Speaking of Devy, the vocal efforts are broader and include much more actual singing (which shouldn’t be a shocking experience to anyone who has heard any Devin Townsend Band albums).
I won’t start to dissect the tracks of the album, because I simply don’t know how to choose any details to mention, so I’ll wrap it all up by concluding that The New Black is a hyperdense slab of geniality that takes the trademark SYL lunacy and blends it with flavors of metal ranging from old style Black Sabbath-ish heaviness to System of a Down-like stylings and a few bits in black metal minor. Oh, and some big band jazz as well.
What to do next:
Listen to “You Suck” and watch the video for “Wrong Side” at SYL’s MySpace, check out the official website or buy the album at amazon.com
or Amazon.co.uk
Tags: cd, metal, Music, review, Strapping Young Lad
July 12, 2006 at 1:05 pm · Filed under Entertainment & Culture, Music
“I will pledge to never purchase a CD contaning any form of Digital Rights Management (DRM), but only if 500 people around the world will too.”
— Elizabeth Stark and Fred Benenson, Freeculture.org
I signed up on this plegde to boycott DRM the moment I saw it (which was a couple of days ago, but it seems I’m a bit slow with the blog updates here). They reached the 500 signature mark shortly after that, but the deadline isn’t until February 6th, so it’s still open for anyone who wants to join in.
Why? I feel that all that is achieved with that kind of technology is to cause inconvinience (or, as in the case of the Sony DRM debacle, possible damage) for the customers, while not doing anything to effectively hinder music piracy. I don’t that will be achieved even if they come up with a DRM software that makes it impossible to make an unauthorized copy directly off the CD, even for a power user (or “hacker”).
All it takes is a good CD-player hooked up to some studio grade recording equipment, and you’ll have a copy that’s perfect to everyone but the most discerning audiophile. And that kind of equipment is probably easily accessible to the kind of people who, for example, also can access movie reels long enough to run them through a telecine machine to get a good copy to distribute.
So it will end up on the internet anyway, and all the DRM does is not only to annoy the consumers by not letting them play back the media the way they want, but also send a message that the producer considers their customers to be possible crooks.
Tags: tech
January 10, 2006 at 6:25 pm · Filed under General, Music
Only about a year after their last studio effort, Reise, Reise, German electro-rockers Rammstein return with new album Rosenrot, and in my opinion this is their best since 1997 release Sehnsucht.
I have enjoyed Rammstein since I first heard them, and I think that their whole concept of pyrotechnically spectacular stage shows and lyrics where homosexuality and sadomasochism often are among the least deviant subjects goes beyond simple “shock-rock” and takes a few steps into deeper artistic territories. There is what feels like a deliberate mix between subtlety and crudeness that indicates that it is more than a striving for effect that drives the band.
Anyway, back to the new album: I think Rosenrot is a large improvement over Reise, Reise – the album gives a more complete and powerful impression, which is kind of strange since both albums (from what I have gathered) were recorded at the same time. Overall it is the trademark Rammstein blend of hard, masculine parts blended with more moody and melancholic electronic bits, but there is also something that makes it feel heavier than before – the guitar riffs are fatter and have more metal to them, Till Lindemann’s vocals sound more throaty. This is most prominent in “Spring”, a foreboding, slowly chugging track that has become one of my favorites.
Other highlights include “Mann gegen Mann”, a track that according to bassist Oliver Riedel showcases and confronts German attitudes towards homosexuality; “Zerstören”, which has a few great riffs and raw, somewhat punk-inspired drumming; and the gloomy “Wo bist Du”. In the department of “unexpected and creative” we find “Te Quiero Puta!”, which besides Spanish lyrics also features a mariachi band, and “Stirb nicht vor mir”, a duet with Sharleen Spiteri, the vocalist of Scottish band Texas.
So, in conclusion, I think Rosenrot is a very good album, and I don’t think anyone who has enjoyed the bands previous releases will be disappointed by it. Except perhaps fans in the U.S. who seem to have to rely on import availability for now, unless the lack of a U.S. release date is a mistake.
Rosenrot album info (includes player with samples)
amazon.co.uk: Rosenrot
| Rosenrot [+DVD]
amazon.com: Rosenrot [import]
| Rosenrot [+DVD][import]
October 29, 2005 at 12:33 pm · Filed under Entertainment & Culture, Music
Each Monday ZTV (a Swedish music/entertainment channel) shows an hour of newly released videos. I watch it sometimes, mostly because sometimes there’s videos that won’t be shown again, but in some cases that’s a good thing. Today there was a video with The Choirboys. I think there’s an Australian hard rock band with the same name, this wasn’t them, but three actual choirboys performing Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” in their piping boy-soprano voices.
The whole thing was just… creepy. Who decides that something like that should be recorded and promoted through popular media? Can’t be much of a market, can it? There’s grandmothers, the six related to the boys plus some elderly women who didn’t get to have any grandchildren of their own, but what else – mood music for catholic priests? Or maybe it is some sort of ill-concieved plot to make choirs cool after the priests have scared all boys away…
I also hope those boys have strong psyches, image when the time comes and they ask when the next album is going to be recorded, and the producer asks “have you ever heard about puberty?”. Or if their future high school classmates make the connection.
October 24, 2005 at 8:15 pm · Filed under Entertainment & Culture, Music, Random ramblings & reflections
I think I have to say that Norwegian singer/songwriter Ane Brun is the best music discovery I have made this year. It started with seeing the video for “My Lover will Go”, first single off second album A Temporary Dive, late one night on a music channel, and I was hooked at once. I got the album a few days later, and it has been on my playlist constantly for more than six months now, and has been joined by first album Spending Time with Morgan.
Putting a label on the music is something that feels really tricky to me. I really recommend getting a first-hand impression at her website’s audio section. I guess a description could start with “singer/songwriter girl with acoustic guitar”, and then add “flavoured with dashes of blues, country and soul” – and it’s still far from a good description, it feels like music written more with the heart than the mind, not caring about genres. There’s a somewhat melancholic feel to it – the tender, comfortable kind of melancholy you may feel while taking a walk on a fresh autumn afternoon.
The overall sound has a less-is-more feel – the songs are clean and soulful, and the production is mostly focused on the guitar (which supposedly is the Morgan referred to in the title of the first album) and the vocals. I have always had an impression that producers have a fear that acoustic music will sound hollow and overdo the production to “fill the blanks”, but here the subtle strings, keys, light percussion and everything else works wonderfully to emphazise the guitar and Ane’s voice. Oh, and that voice, I havn’t mentioned it before, becuase that marks the point where all objectivity goes out the window. I think I’m in almost love with that voice. It’s a voice that reaches out and grips me, sending comfort-shivers down my spine. I think it’s so full of character, sweet and bit coarse at the same time – maybe, if you allow me an attempt at a poetic description, like honey mixed with crispy cereal.
The lyrics are mostly reflections about life and love, but they are cleverly written and feel personal enough to not fall into the swamp of cliché life-and-love songs.
The announced tourdated takes Ane to New York City for four shows next week, then a number of appearances in Norway followed by three dates in the Netherlands at the end of November. The next release is “Duets”, a compilation of ten duets recorded during the last year – something I’m really looking forward to.
International distribution still seems to be a bit scarce, but albums can be ordered in the shop at the homepage, and here’s what Amazon has listed:
amazon.com: A Temporary Dive [Import]
| Spending Time with Morgan
| Duets
amazon.co.uk: A Temporary Dive
October 22, 2005 at 4:23 am · Filed under Entertainment & Culture, Music
I can’t say that I’ve been a devoted Depeche Mode fan, so I don’t consider myself an authority on the subject, but I have always enjoyed their music. And when it comes to their new release, Playing the Angel, I’m really enjoying the music. This definitely is one of their best released in a long time.
The album is well composed, with a good variation of songs, generally dancy but with an overall dark and brooding touch. Among the mellower tracks are “I Want it All”, a dreamy, melancholic piece, and the first single “Precious”, a track on par with classic “Enjoy the Silence”. Favorites among the somewhat grittier tracks are opening track “A Pain that I’m Used to”, the slower-paced “A Sinner in Me”, and the absolutely brilliant “John the Revelator” – a bit more fast paced, with a great chorus. If I have to criticize any track it would be “Damaged People”, which feels more than a little bland compared to the rest, but other than that I think Playing the Angel is a great return by Depeche Mode that probably will please most fans.
Amazon.com: Playing the Angel
| Playing the Angel [CD + DVD]
Amazon.co.uk: Playing the Angel
| Playing the Angel [CD + DVD]
October 18, 2005 at 4:49 am · Filed under Entertainment & Culture, Music
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