Updates #9

Relatively slow time for me and submissions recently, so content is a little on the thin side. I’m going to try and get a queue up and running for the first week of September, because I’ll be back home and enjoying some friendly banter with a few missed faces.

It was also my birthday a few days ago, so happy birthday from me to me, even if I don’t really like getting older.

Other than that, nout much going on, it’s been a few slow days and I’m working on getting some more content together, but I’ve been rather dry as well, so I’m not sure. Although I do have one or two to work through, so you can expect those up soon.

There will also be the sequel to my movie soundtrack post, next week. So hold onto your butts for that.

Hopefully we’ll get some more submissions soon and we can all have a gay old time with music again.

Here’s some art by my favourite (and everyone elses) Gustav Klimt.

Arms And Sleepers Announced New Album “Swim Team”

Soulful electronica duo to release Swim Team on October 28th

Arms And Sleepers are an electronic, Boston duo that have been together for a rather long time. Their music is said to be inspired by their childhood obsessions and their new album is hoping to achieve a nostalgic sound for the 80s. The album is going to be around 35 minutes long and is promising to deliver a wide range of colourful emotions with complex melodies and upbeat rhythms.

To coincide with the bands announcement, they have released the first single from Swim Team, simply called, Swim Team. Listen below.

From what I’ve heard so far, the album is certainly full of colourful and gentle sounding music; a very interesting listen for fans of instrumental hip-hop. The song is crafted with a sense of care and this seems apparent by the way everything falls into place so neatly on this track. The vocal harmonies are blissful, the instrumentation is bright and suitably major sounding.

So if you like what you’ve heard, get ready for Arms And Sleepers new album, Swim Team, coming out October 28th.

Should you fancy following, stalking or sending praise to these guys, then here are all the usual social media suspects:

Official www.armsandsleepers.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/armsandsleepers
Twitter https://twitter.com/armsandsleepers
Instagram www.instagram.com/armsandsleepers
SoundCloud www.soundcloud.com/arms-and-sleepers
Bandcamp www.wearearmsandsleepers.bandcamp.com
Label www.fakechapter.com

Band O’ The Week #6

Artist: Bear The Mammoth
Album: Yamadori
Genre: Progressive-rock, post-rock, instrumental
Social Media: Facebook/Twitter/Bandcamp

Week two and I manage to keep this feature going. Bear The Mammoth are a four-piece prog-rock/post-rock band from Australia that have been around since 2009. However, this year, back in June, they released their debut full-length album, Yamadori.

Quick tickle of information, yamadori, is the name for a tree collected from a wild mountain or a tree dwarfed “in the wild” by natural circumstances. The more you know! Cheers Google.

These guys work really well with flow and organic sounding songs on this album, there are plenty of shiny and quiet guitars to get any post-rock nut’s head spinning around and around. Let’s not forget the use of not just clever instrumentation, but the manipulation of more subtle sounds, like feedback and use of synths. Couple this with a strong set of drums and bass and you’re about ready for a good time.

If you want to be lazy and have a check out what these guys are really all about, listen to the song, Hieronymus Bosch; it’s one of their strongest songs and I think, shows off everything these guys have to offer. That being said, Molly is very sugary sweet AND epic for all you glistening post-rock fans out there.

Should you have time (and you should, otherwise why are you reading my opinion?) listen to the whole of Yamadori and support these guys by buying it from their Bandcamp.

New Music Review – HODSON – Colours That Glow In The Dark

Artist: HODSON
EP: Colours That Glow In The Dark
Genre: IDM, experimental electronic, chiptune
Social Media: Soundcloud/Bandcamp

Today, we’re looking at Manchester’s very own, HODSON and his debut EP, Colours That Glow In The Dark, which we will from now on be shortening to Colours because time!

Considering Colours is the debut EP from HODSON, there is a surprisingly large amount of ground that is covered in a slim amount of time. We’re getting hints of IDM, chiptune and even some more experimental dance tracks. From what I’m hearing on my fourth listen through, I don’t think it’s a very typical electronic release, which is odd, because I can’t quite put my finger on why, but good.

The various soundspace that are trodden on during this EP, start with the chipchune influenced sound of Like Chalk To Slate, which also samples the Smurfs speech from Donnie Darko. Oddly enough, the different intensities of the sample weigh differently at different points in the song and this adds quite a bit of value, which means this is good sample use; it’s not just there for the sake of it.

Like Chalk To The Slate dances around with its quaint chiptune fiddling until and grows at a snail’s pace until it could explode, but instead, it disappears with a dignified fade.

Next on the menu, we have, Out Of Pasture, which feels more like a big beat tune that abandons the delicate nuisances and goes for a more cut-throat approach to the music. In my opinion, one of the more forgettable tunes, but that could be because the overall sound on this track doesn’t appeal to me.  There are much more interesting and clever tracks on here to take my fancy.

Pink And Blue is one such offering. This track is very chill and deviates from the big-beat-esque sound of the previous track to a rather alarmingly large amount. Some tranquil guitar takes the lead here with some minimal beats in the background. This track may not turn the world around on its head, it show’s HODSON’s proficiency at crafting some interesting and varied tunes.

Variety does make this EP an interesting listen, but I think I would have just liked to have seen more from HODSON. There is plenty of opportunity here to excel and go beyond the boundaries of what these songs are expected to sound like. Shock me something fierce! Adam Gnade – The Winter / Their Apartment, could have had something really great going for it, but it just meanders around like a lost b-side, or something.

This sort of thing does well at creating a mood, but it’d be nice to see more than just the places HODSON can take me; show me what these places are about. The final track, Somewhere Down In The West, does this in small doses and does leave me with a smile. Don’t be afraid to let loose and experiment some more, I certainly wouldn’t bite your head off.

HODSON’s debut EP, Colours That Glow In The Dark, is a great start to a solo career and offers sneak peeks at what this guy is capable of. If you like IDM, experimental electronic music or chiptune, give this EP a try, it’s available for a name your price over at Wave Form Generator’s Bandcamp.

I’m expecting more in the future HODSON, keep it up!

Favourite Movie Soundtracks

The title is what it is! These are a few of my favourite movie soundtracks, I think that everyone should own these, because my opinion is the right one (in my opinion). Movie soundtracks are what got me into music, to be perfectly crystal clear, without them, I’d probably only be listening to the most basic of stuff. Like my praised Aqua CD, I wish I was kidding.

I’ll be including both soundtracks and scores, so anything goes really!

I’m only going to do five this week, but every week I’ll add another five, because I love too many to list in one post. Not because I’m a lazy cunt. I swear.

So let’s get this roller-coaster rollin’.

Dawn Of The Dead (2004)

Here’s a little perspective for you: this came out back in 2004 and was basically when I first started listening to music. This soundtrack also contains artists that I would later consider to be my favourites, including Johnny Cash and Richard Cheese. So this was the catalyst for my interest in music, outside of the Spice Girls and such, anyway. The music is a mixture of almost everything, with plenty of rocky moments, mixed in with some incredibly bewildering (but good) choices of song; see the montage with Richard Cheese.

Movie Music Moment: The intro credits with Johnny Cash

Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko’s soundtrack is an incredibly beautiful and striking mix of stripped back piano music, some electronic elements and some sinister twists; much like the movie. This soundtrack is probably one of the ones I’ve spent the most time listening to, simply because it blends so well into everyday life (and time travel).

Movie Music Moment: Gretchen Ross

Reservoir Dogs

Plenty of Tarintino movies to choose from, but Reservoir Dogs is the one that has stuck with me through the years. It mixes catchy pop music of the time with samples from the movie and the radio-talk show host that you hear at the beginning of the movie. It gives you an incredibly jarring sense of musical joy, despite the on-screen violence. Lots of music from the 50’s to the 80’s, so there’s mucho happy tuneage to get your teeth into.

Movie Music Moment: Mr Blonde is Stuck In The Middle With You.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

This one takes me back through the years. I loved this soundtrack before I loved music, but it didn’t really turn me onto the idea of getting more music. I think I was more interested in playing with my Lego and making blanket forts than anything else back then. It’s a grand soundtrack with many gems that will get caught in your head for days. Well done Danny Elfman! You could also check out the Nightmare Revisited, which is the soundtrack, as done by bands like Plain White Tees, Rise Against and so on. That Rise Against version of Making Christmas is the balls!

Movie Music Moment: Jack’s Obsession 

Layer Cake

A wonderful collection of musicians that all fit this British gangster flick surprisingly well; I would have never been able to imagine Duran Duran in this movie, or maybe I would have? Depends on the song. Either way, this soundtrack has lots of electronic goodness and a few rockier moments from the likes of Duran Duran. A very British soundtrack if you ask me!

Movie Music Moments: Coffee with Duran Duran

That’s your lot for now! I’ll be back next week with a few more glorious movie soundtracks, so stay tuned.

Band O’ The Week #5

It’s time for my favourite feature that I never do: Band O’ Week! One day I will post these on a consistent date, I promise.

The Band: Chet Faker

The Sound: Electronic-soul-lounge

The Recommend: Thinking In Textures (EP)

This guy is an Australian electronic musician

Chet Faker is a relatively new discovery to me, despite being active for two years now. Chet released his debut album back in April and I am so disappointed that I’d never heard him until recently!

Built On Glass is a wonderful album that surprised me more than anything else, but I did prefer his EP from 2012, Thinking In Textures. By the way, I’m not sure why it’s an EP, it has more than enough material to make a decent length of an album, just sayin’. The EP had some real thumpers on it, including the fucking excellent cover of No Diggity, which I’m going to show you now.

What I love about Chet’s music is the amount of variety. It’s like sticking your hand in a bag of soulful sweeties and getting ones that are the same colour, but are all slightly differently flavoured. What I mean to say, is that there’s a lot of consistent sounds in Faker’s music, however, he varies things up all the time with wistful samples, sweet synths and general nice key playing.

It’s this consistency that tells you, ‘This is it, this is a Chet Faker song’. Don’t get me wrong, it’d be nice to have a curve-ball, but it might feel out of place in his work. I’m hoping that he doesn’t repeat himself in future releases and instead, continues to make incredibly moving music that seems to come from an accessible sound.

Chet’s sound would appeal to most people, but I think music fans that are aching for that electronic soul sound, with maybe a splash of trip-hop, will find something they like with Chet Faker.

Good one Chet, A* you can have a smiley face an all.

New Musc Review – musicformessier – Invisible Aliens (single)

Band: musicformessier
Song: Invisible Aliens
Genre: Space-jazz, post-rock, ambient
Social Media: Facebook/Twitter/Bandcamp

musicformessier are two mysterious gents from Hungary that mix together some lush post-rock music with smooth ambiance. Today, we’ll be looking at the single from the collaborative album they have coming out, Leaving the I.S.S.

Said album is in collaboration with, Cousin Silas, and is expected to be released on the 28th of September, this year.

The artists describe their music as ‘acoustic space art’ and by golly, does it feel like it.

Their previous release, Saturnitical Mercurism, that was released this March is an impressive collection of tunes that engross and take-in the listeners. The instrumentation is smooth and laid back, you could almost dub it, space-jazz, in fact, I’d like to.

Space-jazzers, musicformessier, most recent track, Invisible Aliens, is equally extraterrestrial with it’s shuddering guitars and keys. It’s a minimal track that doesn’t over stay it’s welcome, which is something these gents have taken down to a fine form. Invisible Aliens would be perfect for late night studying, when you want to turn off your phone, forget to use Facebook and just get on with it; basically just disconnect yourself from reality and enter your own deep space.

I believe what musicformessier are doing is suitable for the kind of music they create and judging from previous releases and the sound of Invisible Aliens, we should be in for more consistently pleasing space-jazz.

So remember to clear a date in your captain’s log for Leaving the I.S.S. being released through all the usual suspects on the 28th of September.

New Music Review – Alexander DeLarge – Vista Point

Artist: Alexander DeLarge
Album: Vista Point
Genre: Neo-classical, IDM, Electronic
Social Media: Bandcamp/Facebook

This is a gent we have listened to in the past and then some! Alexander DeLarge is a Russian contemporary classical composer that released his demo album back in 2012. This new album, Vista Point, seems like a step forward into the right direction for DeLarge. The album feels as stripped back as ever, with some neat little tricks and turns that make this album a much deeper listen than his previous works.

In the previous albums, there were usually spells of angry glitching and fragile classical melodies that get snapped over the knees by this glitching, this time around, theres a much wider array of sounds. For example, in the track You Will Not Avoid, the instrumentation takes an interesting turn with some wavering synth, followed by some anti-social drums. Then, to further the mix around, some heavy guitars come in, very simple guitars, but the aggressive change in pace shows DeLarge’s willingness to experiment. Paper Plane, also offers a fine bounty of sounds with it’s second and final verse, when the drums and the tremolo picked guitars come in.

It feels like this is Alexander DeLarge’s growing university album, where he sexually experiments, tries new things, all that sort of stuff. There are more wind instruments, like the flute-thing (?) in the short Mystical Dream number, and there’s some bombastic brass going off in Keep On. It’s this kind of experimentation that will further his composing capabilities. As it stands though, it looks like DeLarge has perfectly good footing in where he wants his sound to be.

He’s not afraid to go back to that more stripped back, pretty piano sound that he favours from his album, Selected Works and this is great; it’s where some of his best compositions have come from. Untrodden Worlds is a gorgeous number that makes use of his slow and beautiful piano play, with a number of small electronic elements thrown in to add some texture to the playing. Said elements come in with the synth that sounds so pure you’d think it were a virgin.

I’m still a massive fan of how Alexander actually puts these tracks and his glitches together; there’s never a moment where it felt excessive or unnecessary; each time it added to the slow breakdown/build-up of a song. Again, I think You Will Not Avoid, is the best example of this. Drums and beats on this release sound consistent and interesting, even the little uhn tiss’ on tracks like: Check Your Pulse and Take Me Anywhere. Speaking of which, Take Me Anywhere is probably my favourite track.

It’s simple, has plenty of adorable little electronic elements to it and the pacing is just nice and… not uplifting, but blissful. Best track, in my opinion.

Vista Point is proving that Alexander DeLarge is still on point and can continue to give big names a run for their money.

Alexander’s album is on Bandcamp right now for a, Pay What You Want, price so if you like it, give him a listen and maybe some money.

As We Draw Stream New Album In Full

New Album (Mirages) Available For Streaming

As We Draw are a French post-metal band that are gearing up for the release of their sophomore album, Mirages, which is released on October 4th of this year. In an attempt to kick up excitable dust and hype, they have put the entirety of the new album up for streaming through their labels website.

Thank you Throatruiner Records! You can also listen to the album below, curtosy of the band and Bandcamp.

From what I’ve briefly heard from this album so far, it sounds like an industrial-sludge-metal bonanza that is a must for fans of loud noises, thick thumps and explosive thuds. The vocals are rather swanky too!

So remember, that’s October 4th for As We Draw and their sophomore release, Mirages. Why am I telling you even if it’s streaming? Because there’s nothing better than a physical copy.

New Music Review – James L Stead – Don’t Leave Me Outside (song)

Musician: James L Stead
Song: Don’t Leave Me Outside + The Pain That I Caused You
Genre: Singer-songwriter
Social Media: Facebook/Twitter/Soundcloud

James L Stead is an upcoming singer-songwriter from dreary old Surrey, UK. This guy has been making a few ripples in the music pool recently by playing rather big events, such as Surrey’s very own Guildfest, which I have never personally attended, but I’ve been told that it’s a very chill, wee festival. James has also been accumulating radio play on local radio-stations.

Mr Stead has an EP out soon, but there have been two songs released…

Today, we’re going to be looking at those two songs. Despite what the title says, we’ll be looking at both: The Pain That I Caused You and Don’t Leave Me Outside. Both tracks have a very somber songs about love and all of love’s friends/enemies. Although I don’t feel as if these songs tackle these subjects in a unique manner, they do both still sound and feel intimate.

I think what makes James’ music so effective, as simple as it may be, is that it cuts right to the business; everyone can easily relate to his material in some way shape or form. It’s this relativity, playing and singing that simmer their way into your heart. Similar to that of Damien Rice, if you’re looking for a big name to draw comparisons to.

That being said, Stead is, so far, travelling in a slightly different direction with more stripped back instrumentation and simpler lyrics.

If James has charmed you, as he has me, then you can purchase his new debut single, Don’t Leave Me Outside, from all the usual suspects: iTunes, Amazon and Google Play. You can also stream the tune through Spotify or, well, the video above.

Support this upcoming gentleman heart-string plucker and go see him when you can.

Take care, readers x