Updates #10

Workload has been on the decrease recently, owing mostly to the fact that I’ve been working a few shifts with a temping agency. I’ve been doing this because my job has cut my hours down, so I need to get more hours to keep a roof over my head. So, I’m working lots of strange hours and to be honest, it kind throws me out of whack with whatever I’m doing.

That’s not to say there will be NOTHING, but it may be rather quiet. I may queue up some playlists and stuff like that, just to keep things vaguely active.

Please keep submissions coming in, I do read them all and it’s just fantastic, even if the stuff does get sent to every Tom, Dick and Harry blogger-son, I really appreciate it. Makes me feel like a big-shot.

In other news, that aphex twin album is alright, init?

Mike Vennart To Release Album Next April

Oceansize singer and guitarist announces new album

The gent from psychedelic messers, British Theatre, and the guy what plays with Biffy Clyro has recently announced that he will be releasing a record in April.

Usually, I’m not one for Twitter shenanigans and what have you, but whilst I was nipping through my tweets, I found some interesting back and fourth between some of Mr Vennart and his followers:

https://twitter.com/Hhaitch/status/514725272109588480

Followed by:

https://twitter.com/Hhaitch/status/514729310872432640

https://twitter.com/Hhaitch/status/514732748242964480

It’s amazing how one thing can improve your day so much, even when the day was already quite acceptable. After hearing Vennarts track, Operate, earlier this year I was bombarded with this injection of excitement to see that one of my favourite guys of all time was putting out something new.

It’s also great to hear that there’ll be old friends from Oceansize, contributing and having a fart around on this record too.

Have a listen to Operate, released back in February and be as gleeful as me.

 

Can Can Heads Release New Video ‘Too Numb To Step’

More Crazy From The Sultans Of Suave

Back when I had my first Band O’ The Week feature, these gents were the first to be featured with their album Butter Life. The new video, Too Numb To Step, is from that album and is, well, you probably just saw it; minimal.

It does showcase one of the less erratic songs on Butter Life, even if it is still off the wall, and that’s a great move on their behalf. But you know, the craziness is part of the charm of these guys.

Charm in the same way that you’re charmed by the drunk regular at the pub. Still! A drunken mumble of a song that lashes out at all. Keep your distance, but listen well.

Playlist #6 September 2014

So it’s been months since I’ve posted a playlist, yet I have been making them. What’s up with that? I am dreadfully forgetful, but today, I remembered!

• Deafheaven – From The Kettle Onto The Coil
• Mogwai – Ratts of the Capital
• Honeyblood – Fall Forever
• Nothing – Get Well
• Primus – Jerry Was a Racecar Driver
• Usa Out Of Vietnam – You Are A Comet
• Caustic Window – Mumbly
• Diarrhea Planet – Spooners
• Great Sabatini – Pitchfork Pete
• Anna Calvi – Love Of My Life
• Animals as Leaders – New Eden
• Dead Kennedys – Too Drunk To Fuck
• Goldie Lookin’ Chain – Soap Bar
• Kid Cudi vs Crookers – Day N Nite
• Cave In – Inspire

Holy shit, I am so digging Kid Cudi’s Day N Night right now, I should probably listen to more at some point, but for now that track is the bomb. God, I’m so fucking white, it’s unbelievable at times.

Anyway, loving the Adult Swim singles that have been coming out recently, some fantastic gems on there that are well worth a listen, especially cause they’re free. Get them from here.

There’s also been the new Aphex Twin album, which is a lot more chill than I was expecting, but is still great, but at the time I made this playlist, Mumbly was where it was at! You also have Honeyblood, surprising album that was fun, well made and just something old with a gentle twist to shake it up.

In my life? Well, I’m going back to university for my last year and it’s going to be very minimal work, mostly just my dissertation, so don’t expect too many slowdowns or whatever. To keep things interesting, here’s a picture of Rasmus from Hotline Miami (a video game), because this post is now over.

New Music Review – Sugardrum – 3 Penny Postcard

Artist: Sugardrum
EP: 3 Penny Postcard
Genre: Singer-songwriter, folk
Social Media: Facebook/Twitter/Soundcloud/Bandcamp

Sugardrum is the musical alias of story-teller, sing-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nigel Bunner. Sugardrum has released 4 Eps, including a live recording from one of his many shows and today, we’re looking at his shiny new EP 3 Penny Postcard, which was released back in November 2013 (not so new anymore).

To give you an idea of this guy’s sound before we start, I’ll leave you to have a little listen and watch to his new video, made by a friendo, Choccy Roles.

Now, the sounds that Sugardrum makes in Choccy roles almost confused me; I mean, for a while, the song almost sounds jazzy, with that subtle drumming and bass. Then the strings come in and it begins to sound more like a wistful singer-songwriter track. I also enjoyed the gentle glockenspiel playing during this number, it didn’t feel tarty or unnecessary, and it fit the tone just right.

Postcard was a lot more typical singer-songwriter style, with the delightful fingerpicked acoustic and the melancholic vocal styling’s of Mr Bunner. The stripped back story-telling element in this song is pleasant and actively engaging with its tale of a woman hiding away her feelings until her sweet love returns.

I think what this EP does strongly is put forward a very actively interesting singer-songwriter persona; things are never too similar and the sprinklings of alternative genres spices up the music. The incredibly minimal drumming in Choccy Roles and Forgotten are killer examples of using extra instruments to beef out the song, without making it seem too much or too tacky.

This sort of multi-instrumentation is very reminiscent of acts like Sufjan Stevens and even to a slight degree, Beck (and his melodramatic side), and yes it would be interesting to see Sugardrum head in this direction, but I think the little subtleties that this guy has going right now are suitable for what he’s trying to accomplish. The gentle instrumentation with mellow vocals does this EP wonders at driving you to a snapshot of a nostalgic Sunday afternoon under autumn trees, just the way we like to folk.

New Music Review – Witchingseason – Spiders

Band: Witchingseason
Song: Spiders
Genre: Post-grunge
Social Media: Facebook/Soundcloud/Twitter

Witchingseason are a new Uk based post-grunge band that take influences from everyone you’d expect for this sort of band: Alice In Chains, Dinosaur JR, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and QOTSA. Recently, they’ve been picking up grungey steam after receiving rampant reviews from the likes of radio stations (Phoenix FM), bloggers (HearMeRaw) and so on in preparation for the release of their debut EP, which will be released on the 10^th of November.

Until then, we have the band’s new single Spiders, which was released on the 1^st of August (bit late to the party). However, what I’m sure I won’t be late to the party for is the release of new single Codeine, scheduled for October 1^st.

So, shall we go and have a listen to it?

Instantaneously, you can hear the influences from the likes of Soundgarden with the overweight riffs and bombastic vocals from guitarist and vocalist, Tom Reynolds. The drumming is energetic and the bass manages to pump out some extra chunk to keep things at a decent girth, however, it seems like this energy and enthusiasm would flourish better for the band in a live atmosphere.

The riffs are simple and powerful, but delivered with such repetition it makes them wear a little thin; thankfully, there are two main riffs that swap around roughly halfway through the song. This little turnaround is slick and is rather neat; you can practically see the mosh-pit opening up and anticipating that second riff like some sort of drop.

The instrumentation is good in the way that all the instruments mesh together; nothing really feels out of place at this moment in time and it all just blends together. This can also be a problem though, like they’re still trying to find their sound in the great wall of sound and because of that, everything just feels ‘safe’ the band isn’t taking as many risks as it should.

For now though, safe does not mean bad.

From what you can hear in the song, Mr Reynolds does manage to give a consistent vocal performance with loud verses and some catchy humming at the chorus. Again, I’d love to see him push himself to this, clear and strong performance, in live environment.

So far, Witchingseason appear to be a fun and energetic party with the tunes cranked up to 11; I’m looking forward to the release of their EP on November 10^th.

Keep your ears out kids x

New Music Review – Calf – Bastards anatomy use a unicorn go to apathy

Band: Calf
Album: Bastards anatomy use a unicorn go to apathy
Genre: Noise, post-rock
Social Media: Facebook/Bandcamp

Calf is a noise/post-rock band from Greece that play what you’d expect to hear during a vicious descent into a discount hell. This four-piece is renowned for their ruthless music, surreal artwork and no shanks held approach to their craft and it certainly shows with their most recent release, Bastards anatomy use a unicorn go to apathy, which for my sake will now just be shortened to Bastards.

The album itself starts with the monstrous tune, Are you Laura Palmer? No I’m a fucking psycho, which I’ll admit, is a challenging listen. Why? I find it difficult to get into noise music, but there is more than enough substance here, amongst all the layers of noise, distortion and hell, for fans of other genres to get into. There are riffs dotted throughout this song, most notably on the bass and some gnarly drumming and sampled vocals. When the track finally does come to a halt, you breathe a sigh of relief, if only because of the ceasefire on the overbearing noise.

You’re only given a few seconds before the next song fades in, Lunacy box demon booth. This one drew me in a lot more; there are lots of little touches going off like little stops and starts, tempo changes and some groovy bass play. At one point it almost sounded like I was listening to Primus. Lunacy box demon booth, sort of loses any real puff it has for about a second and then kicks back into a barrage of noise, jarring guitar and thick bass.

Squeezing blue hope from my christian numb cock, is the first real break the listener is given. With numb hearing muscles, I exhaled and fell back into the post-rock mechanics kicking into place. Also, that title is a real mouthful (did have an innuendo here, but decided to be the bigger man, heh). This track shows versatility in the Calf ranks, but it also shows an important amount of restraint (sometimes). The guitars sound typically post-rock in tone, without sounding too tarty, even when things go in a different direction. This is the track you should listen to, if you want Calf lite.

The next two songs are The artist formerly known as a hipstercunt pt.I and of course The artist formerly known as a hipstercunt pt.II, not sure why they needed to be part 1 and part 2 since they fade into each other like the rest of the tunes…

Anyway! In both of these songs you’re getting very much typical and lethal Calf, granted, these songs feel much more measured in comparison to the dangerous levels of noise in Are you Laura Palmer? No I’m a fucking psych. Of course this is not a bad thing, I think Calf are at their best when they measure themselves out, otherwise the abrasive sounds and crushing tunes just become boring.

Thankfully, Calf did not become boring for me at all during the last two songs, although I preferred the long build-up, tease, silence and then RELEASE or part 2. That could just be my wimpy post-rock fan side coming out though.

Bastards anatomy use a unicorn go to apathy, kept me listening  curiously until the end and despite having a few unexplainable bruises (most likely from summoning Satan), I enjoyed my experience. I’m surprised they didn’t put more distortion on the bass and I would have liked the vocal samples to be brought forward a bit more, but hey ho.

Calf are all about playing the long game; teasing their listeners until they can’t take anymore and then they change things up. This serves them incredibly well on Bastards and I was left guessing and scared, numerous times. I’m not sure how to describe Calf without referencing big names like Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It’s just a case of listening to this uncompromising album and deciding if it’s your thing or not.

If it’s not, that’s okay, just pick up your woosy t-shirt and alcopops on your way out x

New Music Review – Jacob de Berker – Self Titled

Artist: Jacob de Berker
EP: Self Titled
Genre: Singer-songwriter
Social Media: Twitter/Facebook/Soundcloud/Bandcamp

Jacob de Berker is a singer-songwriter that comes from my personal hometown of Bristol (go Bristol talent! Even if he does live in London now) and last month, he released his debut self titled EP. Jacob takes inspirations from the likes of singer-songwriter/sentimental types :Bon Iver, Bowerbirds, Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stevens, Elliott Smith and it shows with the way that this guy carries his material.

From the get-go, you get a sense of care and fragility with the EP, due partly to the fact that the whole project is self-funded (so buy his music and help him out!) and the recordings all feel very intimate; the artist himself said that the songs were either recorded in a friend’s front room, or the cabin of his own boat. It’s this, coupled with the love and care that has gone into crafting his art and voice of art that makes this EP a very serene and blissful listen.

Drinking Song is the name of Jacob de Berker’s first track here and it’s got a simple little guitar progression that’s very playful (suits the the more upbeat tempo) with some gentle hand percussion. It’s a good enough way to start an EP, but Lacob has plenty more to lay upon your ears.

Jacob also dabbles in different instrumentation, by bringing a banjo in on Move, to assist his lovely vocal capabilities. The times he harmonises with himself on this song are sparse, but effective and add an extra layer of warmth to the track to Move and No Captain. I’d love to see him explore this in further releases since it seems to work rather well.

His vocals also gleam through, in a different way, on Butterfly Nets. You hear a little dabble of accent leaning out and that’s great! To me it really makes the song sound that bit more real. It’s also on this song that a very specific lyric stuck out: “So if you see us stumbling round with butterfly nets, we’re just trying to catch the moments, we don’t want to forget.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, this EP is full of lovely sentiments, like the whole “Splitting lips is just another way to give blood.” line on Drinking Song, great, but the Butterfly Nets one got me.

The song No Captain feels like it puts a slight change of pace in the EP with some more hearty lyrics, but I feel like it’s overshadowed by the next song, which, I feel, is the best on this EP.

Daffodils is a wonderful sentiment that Jacob de Berker has sent into the world that perfectly characterises his music. It’s careful, well written and moving, especially if you have the lyrics in front of you. Everything about this song is peace, I adore the ambient sounds near the end of the track, they sound so safe and cosy. What I think makes this song, and a few others, so effective, are the lyrics. They’re personal enough to mean something to Jacob, but also open ended enough for people to draw their own stories.

Very striking and clever.

Jacob de Berker’s self titled is an EP you won’t soon forget, just invite it in and let it sink into your skin.

Favourite Movie Soundtracks #2

Time for more killer soundtracks for movies that may or may not be killer, although they usually are quite great.

Drive

Lets be honest, who didn’t see this one coming at some point? Now that I think about it, a lot of these movies will probably have people rolling their eyes at me, but who gives a fuck? Drive’s soundtrack suited the movie perfectly, featuring artists like Kavinsky, The Chromatics and the much ridiculed “Reeeeellll human bean!” College. One top of all this, you have the veteran composer, Cliff Martinez, adding his edgy and intense work to the movie.

Movie Music Moment: Human Bean

Smokin’ Aces

I snuck into the cinema when I was 15 to watch this movie and was blown away by everything about it; what 15 year old wouldn’t? It was trashy, stylised fun that didn’t take itself too seriously. On top of all that, it a unique list of artists that introduced me a new world of music, namely The Make Up. Then you have artists like Trivium, Motorhead, The Prodigy and GZA.

Movie Music Moment: Tremors and Trivium

Sunshine

Bad science, amazing soundtrack. John Murphy is one of my favourites and this soundtrack (and 28 Days Later) are testament to his capabilities. It’s a clever mix of ambient, electronic and later on, some strange dance with UK techheads Underworld. This soundtrack is beautiful and deadly all at once, buckle up!

Movie Music Moment: Sunshine

The Machinist

Another atmospheric soundtrack that’s creepy, intense and very brooding. Fits the movie perfectly and I don’t think the composer could have done a better job. The movie really got me as well. Kudos to everyone involved with it!

Movie Music Moment: Looks Like Rain

 The Watchmen

Fuck yeah, I was suckered into this movie and it’s soundtrack. Problem? Most likely the most recent superhero movie that had me in stitches of glee. Of course, that does owe, in part, to the well put together music on this movie. You’ve got that amazing cover of Desolation Row, Bob Dylan (even though I’m not a fan) and everything in between.

Movie Music Moment: Times They Are A Changin’

That’s it for this week, stay tuned for more swanky soundtracks in the near future. Coming to a blog near you.

Actually, it’s only coming to this blog, I swear.

 

New Music Review – Shifting Reality – Naive Audacity

Artist: Shifting Reality
EP: Naive Audacity
Genre: Ambient
Social Media: Bandcamp

Ambient music is a massively expansive genre that dips it’s feet into all manners of music, but when it comes to getting it right or wrong, things can become very opinionated and up for personal interpretation; one persons heaven may be another persons hell. Today we’re looking at an artist that sits firmly on neutral sound ground.

Hungarian artist, Shifting Reality, released his EP, Naive Audcaity, on the 30th of August through his own means. This self released EP has been described by the artist as cinematic, ethereal and somewhat electronic. I can absolutely see where this is coming from. The sounds that are created on this EP are very thick, deep and at times expansive.

Shifting Reality sets a scene with minimal sounds, subtle instrumentation and some rather humid synths that hold chords for a very long time. With an EP, such as Naive Audacity, it would appear that the artist set out to create sound-spaces that deliver you from reality and put you in either a meditative state or another world. Naive Audacity accomplishes both with it’s short trio of songs.

To me, the first track, I Haven’t Seen Her In Reality, feels purely serene with it’s snail tempo, elongated chords and drifting pace; it sounds like clothes drying in a late spring evening. However, the other two tracks are deeper and offer much more for a listener. The title track uses this strange, almost psychedelic wiggle of synth and also manages to incorporate some drumming in there. This track is quite comparable to artists like Solar Fields and such with heavy synth use and occasional drumming occuring.

The final track on this EP, Doubts Of The Devil, dabbles in the deathly ethereal with it’s tidal wave like synth and sea-harpy vocal samplings; this track will take you in under it’s heavy pull and drown you. There isn’t really much I can say to describe this track… I mean, it’s much more drawn out, sounds darker and messes around in what could be field-samplings.

Overall, this EP is good start for Shifting Reality; the way has been paved and the musician is ready to travel with the music. Where will they go from here?