Tag: Mp3s
Halloween is a special day so it deserves a special post. My first thought was to go with a Misfits cover, cuz y'know nothing says Halloween quite like them, but instead I've opted for Entombed covering Roky Erickson's "Night of the vampire". I actually kinda prefer the flipside from the original split 7" with New Bomb Turks (a cover of "I hate people" by Anti-Nowhere League), but this is pretty damn killer and, let's face it, it's a perfect track for today. Who can't get down with some creepy Texas psychrock as covered by a Swedish death-metal band?
Entombed - Night of the vampire
Leütenhaven are full of surprises. Their debut EP opens with a droning art piece reminiscent of The Giant's Dream which then gives way to sharp indiepop anchored by a tight rhythm section and mantra-like vocals. "Still life (trompe l'oeil)" seems straightforward as first, but as the name suggests, not all is what it seems. Three chords and an endless refrain? Not quite. The steady strum of the guitar is a red herring. Listen carefully and you'll hear new harmonies appear as the background shifts in subtle ways. Are those voices real or are they samples? Does it matter? Should we be concerned with each individual element or concentrate on the end result? What's the proper vantage? From my point of view, I find this song to be a sublime, but tricky work of pop art. Leütenhaven lies somewhere between the anxious, overreaching epic-ness of Arcade Fire and the steady workmanship of the Figurines, a melding of craft and inspiration. Unexpected, but welcome.
Leütenhaven - Still life (trompe l'oeil)
"Seven comforts" is/was a single from the self-titled "lost" album of Swedish powerpop act Favorita, a band lead by ex-Beagle/current Metro Jets frontman Magnus Börjeson in the mid-90s. Here's the condensed version of their story: band records an album, label shelves it for a few years and then, by the time they get around to finally putting it out, the band has lost interest and everyone goes their separate ways. I'm sure the reality is much more complicated and convoluted, but that's the gist. As for the music, it's upbeat powerpop rock'n'roll that sounds just as fresh today as I'm sure it did twelve years ago, back when it was first recorded. The expanded reissue gets a bit long-winded for someone like me whose historical interest in a band they've never heard of is nil, but I must commend the folks at Popsicle for treating it with such a completist level of care. Long-time fans will be stoked, casual listeners may find their attention fading as they head into the bonus tracks. Personally, I'm content to cherry-pick the 3-4 exceptional single-worthy tracks (of which this one is by far the best) and lump the rest.
Favorita - Seven comforts
Like "Battle hymn", "I know my owner" is a triumphant opener that sets the stage for what's to come. The piece is two parts; first comes the overture - a grand symphonic declaration with the main theme performed on MIDI guitar. Then the track breaks and the lead gives way to a strummed, full-chord riff that becomes the foundation for part two. The drums become more clattering too, but the symphonic air is held by the keyboards softly soaring in the background. That is, until the vocals come in, screaming undecipherable epithets; then it becomes something else entirely - a warning. I suppose that, in a way, they are building walls to keep out the undesirables and rubberneckers. It's tracks like this that make it impossible to be a casual Bear Quartet fan. Either you love it or you don't, no in-between. If you feel alienated, that's fine. It's not for you. Personally, I appreciate the ugliness and discomfort, the juxtaposition of themes. "I feel so alive that I want to die... say hello, wave goodbye"
The Bear Quartet - I know my owner
Halloween, the season of the witch - a perfect time for creepy music, a perfect time for some classic Mercyful Fate. Frontman King Diamond may live in Texas nowadays (and has for years now), but he started out in Denmark, so this damn well qualifies as perfect Friday posting material. I'm too young to know what it must've been like to hear something like "Melissa" when it was first released in 1983, but it certainly made an impression on my fragile little mind when I did finally get around to hearing it as a teenager. No one else has a voice like that and the twin guitars of Michael Denner and Hank Shermann are unfuckwithable. I won't kid you - Fate's occult-obsessed lyrics are way more comic book scary than real-life scary, but I still get a visceral thrill hearing King shriek "Yes, hail Satan!" Furthermore, and I can't believe I haven't told this story here before, Mercyful Fate changed my life. Really! I went through a few different musical phases throughout my gradeschool career, dabbling here and there before eventually immersing myself in punk. I blindly accepted the idea that guitar solos are pure wankery and renounced the music of my youth. And then, sometime around my junior year of high school, I got the funny idea of seeing the recently reunited Mercyful Fate on the "Time" tour. I figured, what the hell - it'll be good for a laugh seeing the diminuative King Diamond prance around on stage in his makeup with his mic stand of bones. But you know what? They kicked ass. I wasn't laughing, I was reborn. So thank you Mercyful Fate, for setting me straight, back on the path of righteousness.
Mercyful Fate - Black funeral
Black Sabbath is my #1 all-time favorite band, so I always approach covers of their songs with serious trepidation. You know I don't expect much when 98% of the bands that plagiarize their style totally miss the mark. On hearing that Ulver had a Sabbath cover on their new album "Shadows of the sun", I was skeptical. What song would they do? How would they perform it? Ulver is constantly surprising and reinventing themselves, so I didn't even have a clue as to what new Ulver songs would sound like. When I found out the song they selected was "Solitude" from "Master of reality", my fears were somewhat abated. It's a great piece of music and often overlooked, thus a perfect candidate. Perhaps not as surprising as Pantera doing "Planet caravan" (which is excellent btw), but along the same lines. Anyhow, Ulver's cover is surprisingly faithful to the original - the arrangement, the instrumentation, everything. Really, the only liberty that they take is with the vocals which have been brought up to the front and double-tracked with harmonies. Garm has grown into a tremendous singer as proven with recent Ulver albums, but it's really here, on "Shadows of the sun", where all the accolades come to fruition. Now, not only can he hit all the requisite notes, but he is now capable of showing much more restraint and emotion. Now, as for comparing it to the original, well... it falls short, but I give them credit where credit is due. It's an inspired song choice, but they didn't make it their own. Sorry. On the other hand, the rest of the album is excellent and definitely their best post-black metal work yet. Well worth checking out.
Ulver - Solitude
Eric Malmberg made a name for himself as the organ player for Sagor & Swing, an act I was never all that fond of. Which is to say, they were fine at what they do, it's just that what they did never held my interest. Now, with his new solo record "Verklighet & beat", I'm reconsidering my opinion. Malmberg's groovy organ-based prog/psych-rock still isn't quite my jam, but the fleshed-out, full-band instrumentation is a welcome change and suits him well. It's certainly saying something that Swedish music legend Bo Hansson ("Sagan om ringen") gueststars along with many other well-respected contemporary artists: Jari Haapalainen, Goran Kajfes, Lars Skoglund, etc. The compositions I like best here are the more atmospheric, ensemble works, where the players work together towards a greater whole such as on "Till minne av Lilly Lindström" and today's featured track, "Söndagskonsert". The funky stuff is fine, but it doesn't move me like this does. The sound and movement of the church organ makes me think of a Bach fugue, but the strings give it a more ethereal quality. The way that main arpeggio theme shifts through the chord changes makes me think of soaring birds ala "Winged migration". In fact, this would probably fit right in on that soundtrack. Very nice.
Eric Malmberg - Söndagskonsert
Graveyard plays the kind of heavy 70s-rock that immediately inspires Black Sabbath references, especially given their chosen moniker. However, lacking a frontman with the air-raid siren of Ozzy puts 'em much closer to Deep Purple territory or maybe Blue Cheer. It just doesn't have the ominous doom quotient of Sabbath. I also detect a definite Creedence Clearwater Revival vibe, especially in the close-mic'd guitar sound. It's pure amp overdrive, not a muddy pedal tone. I'm sure they employ a stompbox every so now n' then (such as on the solos), but for the most part, it's kept clean and clear. Relatively speaking, of course - this is still heavy rock after all. I dig this a lot. Now let's just hope that the album release on Tee Pee Records leads to a US tour.
Graveyard - Thin line
I saw the Lisa Gerrard doc "Sanctuary" yesterday which got me thinking about the human voice as an instrument, about how affecting it can be even if you don't understand the words being sung or, as in Gerrard's case (as with Sigur Rós and others), no actual words are being used at all. Emotion comes through the performance and melody, not the lyrics. And that made me think back to the "Ny musik för landssorg" comp (as discussed here) - the gravity of the subject matter led each artist to use wordless vocals, if they used words at all. Really, what can one say to ease the suffering of national tragedy? Words fail us. However, there is one exception and that is Sara Berg and her track "Not alone". The sentiment is simple enough that it works, but it's still a risky move. The potential for pompous pretention is infinite.
In addition to its appearance on "Ny musik för landssorg", "Not alone" also appears on Sara Berg's album "When I was a young child I used to feel pleasure from playing with others". Generally speaking, the formula remains the same - Sara excels at taking deep sentiments and simplifying them, setting them against her tightly wound beats. What could easily turn into the kind of overwrought, all-too-serious display that turns people off from most theatrical goth-rock, is instead handled with care and the right amount of subtlety. Some tracks, such as today's mp3 "Crawl back from under", work better than others, but that's mostly due to the music, not the vocals. Sara is unusually vocal-centric for an electronic artist and I think it's both an asset and a liability; an asset because it differentiates her from the rabble, a liability because her tracks can often be lacking. At her worst, it's never that bad, but she never quite soars either. I have to say that I appreciate her on a conceptional level more than anything else.
Sara Berg - Crawl back from under
"Broken heart" is a tiny little segue piece from "Eternity now", The Bear Quartet's noisiest, most difficult album. Static form the bookends that make the song, a fragile solo piece for piano and vocals. That would be all fine and good except that what was once pretty and nice, has been transformed into something far more uncomfortable, nauseating even. The synth shudders and twists. The vocals are pitched up to an unnatural state and every inhalation scrapes like nails on a chalkboard, sending a shiver down my spine. But, before you know it, it's over and we're off to the next experiment. Distressing, in the best possible way.
The Bear Quartet - Broken heart
Critical consensus has it that Ebba Grön's second album "Kärlek & uppror" is their best and I'm inclined to agree. It's the perfect balance between the roughshod debut "We're only in it for the drugs" and the polish of their third self-titled record. Compared to the underground, Ebba Grön's particular brand of punkrock comes off as nearly harmless, but that doesn't mean it isn't good. You could probably say the same about the Sex Pistols - political commentary aside, it's only rock'n'roll and as such, it's not anything I'd consider to be all that subversive. For the time, well that's a different story, but I'm sorry, I'm not old enough to talk about that with any sort of authority. Anyhow, the point is that good music is good music is good music and that's all there is to it. If it happens to change the world along the way, that's pretty awesome too.
"800°" is a great opening number. Like a lot of Ebba Grön material, it'll probably remind you of The Clash. That is, until the synth comes in on the chorus, foreshadowing the more postpunk direction frontman Joakim Thåström would later head with Imperiet. What I like most about it, besides the funny basso background vox, is that it's simple enough that a Swedish-impaired dummy like myself can sing along. "Åttahundra grader / Du kan lita på mej / Du kan lita på mej" Join in, why don't you?
Buy Ebba Grön reissues: [click here]
Ebba Grön - 800°
This is kind of a catch-up post since I've been meaning to post about Knugen Faller for awhile, yet somehow manage to postpone it over and over. No more! Anyhow, Nancy's review sums it up pretty well, though I actually like it a lot more than she does. Truth: yes, this is a retro genre piece and as such, it steals shamelessly from acts of yore. However, I'm okay with that 'cuz they do it well. It's all about good songs played with copious energy, not originality and hey, they even get acclaimed jazz musician Jonas Kullhammar to lay down some sax so that's gotta mean something. If you like Randy, Regulations, or even The Hives, there's a damn good chance you'll like this too. 'Nuff said!
Buy it: [click here]
Knugen Faller - Lungen favoriter
I received a 4-track CDR from Lukestar way back in April. There wasn't much info included in the package, just that the band was currently on the prowl for a record deal and that the tracks were recorded by Carl Vikman in Sweden. No song titles, no band bio, nothin'. I has seen Lukestar's name in passing, but didn't really know much about them 'cept that they were loosely associated with the Norwegian hardcore scene, or at least that seemed the be the circle they travelled in. However, upon listening, I was taken aback - what's up with this squeaky, androgynous voice? Is this supposed to be emopop? And that drumming... my god! That's what makes the band. The first chorus comes in and teases you with a gigantic hook, only to give way to another, more drawn-out verse with an even more amazing drum break. Then the second chorus, bigger than the last and straight into a triumphant bridge of dueling guitars lines over even busier drums. It's within the realm of noiserock, but not really all that noisy. Melody still rules. One more short, final chorus and, all of a sudden, it's over. The first time I heard it, I was left scratching my head. Not only did it totally defy expectations (those vocals!), but it wasn't quite like anything I'd heard before. Definitely comparable to a lot of the bands Carl Vikman has worked with before - Seven Feet Four, Trapdoor Fucking Exit, Traktor and so on - but with its own unique flavor. Way more pop to be sure, though still rooted in hardcore. Think back to before emo became a bad word. It took me a bit to process, but repeated listens eventually embedded "White shade" firmly into my brain. There's something really intriguing about the way it teases you with the main chorus hook and then moves on. It's such a fantastic part, but it passes by so quickly! In many ways, its stinginess is its strength - I get blindsided and am left wanting more. You might not get it immediately the first time through, but it'll get you.
Too bad Lukestar's album won't be out until 2008 - I was really looking forward to hearing more. As-is, the four tracks I do have remain some of the best stuff I've heard this year.
Lukestar - White shade
It's surprisingly easy for a band like Paris to slip under the radar. There's no quirks, no gimmicks; just a solid band playing pop music on conventional rock instruments. But y'know what? Sometimes that's enough. In a world where everything has to be bigger, brasher, more more more, a band like Paris can be awfully refreshing. "When I laid my eyes on you" is the first single from the band's new record "The landlord is kind enough to let us have our little sessions", so named because they recorded most of said album in bassist Mattias Svensson's living room. It's a nice little mid-tempo number with a fuzzy synth doing a counterpoint melody with the vocal line. The chorus takes the same idea and opens it up a bit wider with louder guitars and crashing drums. I love the way they split each line at "find/fine" with a ricocheting guitar chord and a single bar of half-time. There's quite a bit of syncopation going on, though it's softened by conspicuous reverb and delay. Remember, this is essentially disco-pop (hear that doubled-up hi-hat!), so it goes with the territory. Plenty of postpunk acts attempt to exploit similar tactics, but sometimes I want something a bit cheerier and that's exactly where Paris comes in.
Watch the video: [click here]
Buy it: [click here]
Paris - When I laid my eyes on you
Maybe I'm not familiar enough with his oeuvre, but I don't remember Lars Winnerbäck ever sounding this much like The Pogues. Perhaps I'm underestimated him 'cuz this is some rousing, fiery folk-rock, Celtic instruments n' all. And unlike most of Lars' other material, it requires no translation for full enjoyment. The fiddle/accordion refrain says everything I need to hear, with the mandolin providing adequate punctuation. A great way to start an album and a great way to start the week.
Lars Winnerbäck - Farväl Jupiter