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Thursday, 02 May 2013 10:54

Spacehog Shines On In Galaxy of Rock

Published in Album Reviews Written by NATALIE

"In the meantime..." they told us in 1995, and then they left us hanging.

Following up a No. 1 hit with three musically strong but largely ignored albums, Spacehog features the best of a talent-laden recording career on newly-released, 11-track "As It Is On Earth."

Epic opening song "Deceit" delivers seven minutes of Hog heaven from frontman Royston Langdon-lead vocals, bass, piano, acoustic guitar and who even knows what else; lead guitarist Rich Steel and drummer/percussionist Jonny Cragg. Here, Roy is at his lowest, lyric- and note-wise, plunging into the depths of his vocal and emotional ranges before lilting back up to the top of his trademark falsetto with soothing "Cool Water." Throughout "As It Is On Earth," Spacehog deftly navigates between rockers and ballads with jamming guitars and satirical lyrics that no longer seem parodies of glam rock so often cited in comparisons, notably adding a new sound ~ gospel chorus backup vocals ~ on final track (no hidden ones anymore, lads?) "Glad to Know."

The ridiculously overqualified "one-hit wonders" prove themselves deserving of critical and commercial success on radio- and iPod-worthy songs ("Sunset Boulvard" and "Dinosaur" dare you not to sing along) both reminiscent of their early brilliance and foreshadowing a glittery future ahead, albeit smaller: Gone are former Spacehog rhythm guitarist/vocalist Antony Langdon (Roy's brother), as well as muse-now-ex Liv Tyler. Their influences remain as apparent on songs like "Love Is A Curious Thing" and "Wish You Well" as on Spacehog's public image (when asked who shared both a father and husband in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, two out of three Jeopardy! contestants guessed Liv Tyler. Correct answer: Lisa Marie Presley).

The Langdon brothers grew up together in Leeds, England, but didn't meet up with fellow Leedsmen Cragg and Steel until a March 1994 chance meeting in New York, where the band has since been based (9/11 was cited as a major factor in their hiatus). The rest is Hog history.

Aside from a collaboration with R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe on "Almond Kisses" in 1998, Spacehog's output is self-propelled: The band funded "As It Is On Earth" on fan-backed PledgeMusic after switching labels from Elektra to Sire between their debut (1995's "Resident Alien") and follow-up (1998 "The Chinese Album"), and to Artemis Records before their third ("2001: A Space Hogyssey"). Live bootleg "Hamsters of Rock" was never officially released and predates Spacehog's other recordings.

"As It Is On Earth" is available on iTunes and Amazon.

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Wednesday, 24 April 2013 18:49

Black Sabbath 13

Published in Album Reviews Written by L Paul Mann

Black Sabbath 13

First New Recording by Original members in Over 30 years

L. Paul Mann

A group of 60 excited music reporters and special guests were invited to a secret listening party for the first Black Sabbath album in almost 35 years. The mysterious event took place behind closed doors at the Montalban theater in Hollywood. Guests were ushered in to the lobby of the offbeat venue, where everyone was searched for photography and recording devices. Even cell phones were confiscated to help keep wraps on the project. Patrons were treated to an open bar while the first classic albums of the band were played over the sound system. From the opening of the first album, with the iconic ringing bell amidst a thunderstorm, anticipation hung like humidity in the air. As the doors opened to the theater, three large screens revealed the artwork of the new album cover. Reality TV star Jack Osbourne(son of Ozzy) made the welcoming comments and introduced a short documentary on the making of the album. The documentary featured legendary producer Rick Rubin and the three original members of the band. Lead singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, and bassist Geezer Butler all appeared in the film. It was perhaps, no surprise that original drummer Bill Ward did not participate in the project. Suffering from poor health in recent years, he had to pull out of most of the planned reunion concerts last year. What was surprising to learn was that it was actually contractual obligations that kept him from the recording project. It was now guitarist Tony Iommi who was having life threatening health issues. The recording process was moved to Iommi's home studio in Birmingham England so he could continue his (successful) chemotherapy treatments. Rubin suggested bringing American rock veteran Brad Wilk of “Rage Against The Machine” to the project. Rubin had recently worked with Wilk on Dave Grohl's masterful movie and concert project “Sound City”.

The short Sabbath documentary actually had many of the elements of the “Sound City” film, that made that feature such an extraordinary piece of work. Like in “Sound City” Rubin loomed large in his efforts and ability to get the most out of the masterful pioneers of metal in their long awaited endeavor. Wilk proved the perfect replacement on drums. Offering up the classic booming Sabbath sound, with an element of his own distinctive “Rage” rhythm brought into the mix. After the short film, the light went down and the album was played in it's entirety to the hushed crowd in almost a church like atmosphere. Appropriate applause exploded after each track before patrons returned to a hushed reverent listing mode. The three original members of the band made an appearance to a standing ovation after the the album was played.

Black Sabbath 13 is a classic Sabbath album in every sense of the word. The recording features eight songs that come in at just under, sixty minutes, just like a record from the golden age of rock. The album features a blues drenched metal sound that is the closest sounding recording to the bands first album, that the group has ever produced. Harkening back to the American black blues sounds of the fifties and sixties that influenced all of the top English rock bands of their generation, there is even a bit of harmonica on one track. But make no mistake this is a heavy metal album in every sense of the word. Rubin crystallizes every note on the tracks, wringing the most from each performance. Iommi's blistering guitar solo's lead the way for Butlers thundering bass and Wards intense drumming to follow. While the sound is rooted in the classic Sabbath tradition, newer metal elements of bands like Metallica and Avenge Sevenfold can be heard influencing the mix. Ozzy sings in his trademark lamenting wail, spewing apocalyptic drenched lyrics, focusing on the battle between good and evil, but always with a hint of the possibility of redemption.

Song Breakdown

End of The Beginning

An appropriate opening track both lyrically and musically, the song features exploding guitar solos, abrupt changes in tempo, and Ozzie's haunting an prophetic lyrics “Is this the end? Or the beginning? Or The beginning of The End?”

1. God Is Dead

This nearly nine minute song which has already been leaked online could well become the hit song of the album. A classic prodding Sabbath song, Ozzie offers up the burning question relentlessly throughout, not a statement but a question in classic Sabbath structure.

1. Loner

Short brilliant song reminiscent of NIB on the first album with similar abrupt ending

4. Zeitgeist

Slow moody acoustic number reminiscent of “Changes” on Black Sabbath Volume IV. As blues influenced a song as the band has ever recorded, with a lost in space lyrical them.

1. Age of Reason

The band really blazes on this track with drummer Wilk in lockstep with Butlers iconic bass riffs and amazing solo work by Iommi on guitar. This song should translate incredibly well to live arena rock.

1. Live Forever

Live forever is a classic Sabbath metal ballad with Ozzie's lyrics focusing on the ultimate questions associated with mortality.

1. Damaged Soul

Wilk leads the way into new Metal ground for the band on this high energy state of the art rocker.

1. Dear Father

Similar to the track before this final track on the album leads the band into new musical ground with intense mixing techniques. The lyrics reference an abusive father. The track ends most fittingly with the same ringing bell in a thunderstorm that began Black Sabbaths first album.

Black Sabbath 13 is set to be released on June 11^th, 2013

The band has also announced a short North American tour. So Far there are only four dates.

August 4 Holmdel, New Jersey

August 14^th Toronto, Ontario

August 24^th The Gorge, Washington

September 3^rd Los Angels Sports Arena

For more information: http://www.blacksabbath.com/

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Tuesday, 19 March 2013 17:05

Crossroads -- Circle Of Unexisted

Published in Album Reviews Written by James Lee Phillips

Crossroads -- Circle Of Unexisted

Circle of Unexisted are a strange band. No, I don't simply refer to the names of the Russian band members (St.Pan, Bloop, Crimson Bell, and D) or their "transgressive rock" and "oneuronautic" ethos. Sure, any album that professes to document the sounds of unobserved alternate universes is going to be unusual -- but that's the strange part. What we actually get is a surprisingly familiar sound, halfway between Krautrock and late 80's industrial music, with a nice blackened metal crust.

If the "transgressive" label brings you to "Crossroads" expecting some kind of violence and obscenity, you may be disappointed. Oh, there's plenty of disturbing weirdness that would nicely complement any torture porn film or survival horror video game, but there's very little that will shock or disturb a relatively well-traveled sonic adventurer. Fans of bands from Hawkwind to Skinny Puppy won't have much trouble getting into Circle of Unexisted. But neither will fans of the Butthole Surfers (or, for better or worse, Burzum's incarcerated repetitive doodling).

Take "Transgressive Overload," for example. The opening track begins with a dark and spacey atmospheric drone in a minor key, and then establishes the fundamental drum pattern that will propel us through the rest of the song -- a basic and undistinguished heavy rock pattern. This is supplemented by a splattery and seemingly off-rhythm bass, and then some guitar aided by a heaping helping of echo. Hmm. Then another section with more jangling guitar, followed by more echoing effects, and more ways that the bass can hit every beat but the right one. And everything repeats and fits into four bars and sixteen measure segments so perfectly... as if it were cut and pasted. There's little attempt at development of theme or dynamic structure, and then we're left with some more dark spaciness at the end.

Okay, then there's "Marche Transcendentale," in which analog synth textures and a martial beat repeat while some synthetic and tribal vocal noises come in. Every once in awhile, things ease up and then get bigger, sometimes with heavier drums and echoing guitars. Parts are brought in, taken out, and eventually the song seems to reach some kind of climax. The band talks about providing soundtracks to possible other worlds... but sometimes when music-makers say "soundtrack" or "soundscape" or even just "instrumental" what they really mean is "I made some sounds but didn't go the extra step of turning it into an actual song." Sometimes, it just sounds like somebody trying out different sound effects and settings on their equipment, while a percussive track repeats until they turn it off. If the opening tunes were all that "Crossroads" had to offer, you could easily be forgiven for losing your enthusiasm.

But things start to get more interesting on "Lingravet," in which we get the classic recipe of a semi-trippy spoken-word bit alternating with instrumental bits -- a pedigree that goes back to "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts," or at least to "Little Fluffy Clouds." The heavy stuff is heavy, and the spoken stuff is dutifully processed and expounds on daydreaming and space travel. The same recipe is explored further in "Deep Inversie," with more of an industrial style -- the insistent dark groove and the (almost hip-hop) vocals made me think of "Deutsche Nepal" by Amon Duul II, although it's not THAT similar... couldn't be an influence... could it?

Distorted vocals are also featured in "Hy Het Duisende Van Name," (which even kinda sounds like a Burzum title), but they're more of the Shining-meets-Skinny Puppy variety. The black metal influence is much more explicit here -- remember, the band's Russian homeland isn't THAT far from Scandinavia. Speaking of Skinny Puppy, tracks like "Skin Voice 420", "Staat Van Innerlike Afgrond", and "Insek-Messias" sound strikingly like a tribute to those classic Wax Trax industrial tracks, and would sound at home next to early Ministry, or early White Zombie, or even Butthole Surfers from the Touch and Go era. Caustic and disturbing!

"Quietly fishing in Styx" is something of a left turn, with gentler tones but a lot more RIO-like rhythmic randomness. It's a step toward Mogwai territory, definitely, less evil but just as creepy as the other soundscapes.

"Crossroads" as a whole has me a little puzzled. The first two tracks are so clearly the weakest on the album that you have to wonder if the band is trying to turn you off before turning you on to their better metal-industrial-experimental moments. By the time you reach the end of the album, you get it -- this is a worthy entry in a loosely-defined uber-genre that links illbient to experimental black metal, post-rock and math-rock and drone doom. There's no doubt that it won't be everybody's cup of spiked vodka, but there are plenty of lovers of dystopia who will be happy (or whatever) to make Circle of Unexisted a welcome addition to their dark and noisy collections.

Friday, 15 March 2013 20:04

Grown Up Avenger Stuff -- Sparkleton

Published in Album Reviews Written by James Lee Phillips

Grown Up Avenger Stuff -- Sparkleton

Floener + the Thomson Machine. Yeah, jokes like that are easy with Grown Up Avenger Stuff -- firstly, because sonic comparisons are unavoidable (although ultimately unwarranted). And secondly because GUAS don't take themselves TOO seriously. Oh, they take the MUSIC seriously; this is a dedicated and disciplined band that will rock your socks off and maybe even disturb you or make you think along the way. But the core of the band is all about positive energy and quirky moments amidst all the Sturm und Angst, and "Sparkleton" is as appropriate as any word can be in nailing that feeling.

"Some of Us" begins with deceptive lightness, all bouncy bass and lilting breathy lyrics... only the faint distorted guitar indicating that this may be something other than a wide-eyed envoy from the land of Ingrid Michaelson. But stick with it, and soon the band starts pounding in a wonderfully heavy mess of noise, reminiscent of... something. Radiohead? Hum? Desaparecidos? That bass hook is as naggingly familiar as it is catchy. Wait, got it -- it's a little like "She is Dancing." Let's hope GUAS has a more accomplished career than Brian Kelly, although (to be fair) appearing on the soundtrack of a Julian Schnabel film would be a nice feather in the band's cap.

It's an extremely satisfying song, both matter-of-fact and strangely poignant. Deirdre Kroener captures the mingled acceptance and helplessness of the end of a relationship, without descending into either bile or maudlin regret. As much as I liked "Alive," the band's first release, "Sparkleton" as an album shows significant strides forward. The title track continues the trend of using the bass to establish a central melodic impetus -- a role that the bass doesn't always play in heavy music, and one that contributes greatly in differentiating GUAS from anyone else. Oh, and yes -- the bass player's name is Hunter Thomsen, and no, he's not a Doctor of Journalism.

As sonic signatures are concerned, "The Beat" echoes some of my least favorite moments of "Alive," namely, those spots where Kroener feels she has to scat into a distorted microphone. Some listeners will no doubt love it, and it goes a long way toward the "not taking themselves TOO seriously" goal. When the song resolves, it's in a Billy Corgan-style denouement, as if the self-consciousness of the first half has caught up to the band and made them a little sad. Nicely redeemed.

"Pins" is even more Pumpkins-like; it could have almost come from the Gish / Siamese Dream era, full of machine-gun drum crescendos and bass-and-lead unison lines. It's also the strongest single track on "Sparkleton," as every band member seems to be playing their heart out. If this song isn't a natural-born show-closer, I'll eat my hat. Unfortunately, it's sets the bar so high that even the worthy power of "The Man" seems like a little bit of a letdown.

And "Too Cool" gets back into "The Beat" territory -- memorable, semi-funky and cursed with a little too much unsubtle self-consciousness. Well, it's a guaranteed inclusion on countless college girls' playlists, so that's something. Luckily, to close the album, they have the creeping arpeggios and growling bass of "Do Ya," which helps remind you that GUAS really rocks. Kroener sounds like a latter-day Debbie Harry as she preps the audience for... well, the end.

Wait, what? In a perfect world, this would have been the opening track, "Pins" would have finished the album, and there would have been some loosely defined theme holding the rest of the tracks together. Come to think of it, "Sparkleton" seems like it could have almost been a concept album... all it would have needed was a bit of juggling with the track order, a few under-a-minute jams and segues, and one or two more songs on the level of the best moments to make up for a certain unevenness among the weaker tracks.

But maybe that's asking for too much of a good thing. GUAS has delivered a solid collection of heavy tunes that range from obvious college radio favorites to arena-shaking hard rockers. "Sparkleton" shows a far more unique band than they were on their debut album; the musicians are developing distinctive sonic spaces for themselves rather than ably serving as Kroener's generic modern-rock backing band. Could "Sparkleton" be the spark that kindles a widespread GUAS fire of mainstream awareness? It sure could be. We need more bands like them... but if they keep getting this much better and more distinctive with each album, there won't be any bands quite like them.

Friday, 08 March 2013 13:42

Cojones -- Bend To Transcend

Published in Album Reviews Written by James Lee Phillips

Cojones -- Bend To Transcend

What's that I smell? Is that Indica or Sativa? Doom metal or grunge? Unwashed Croatians or sweaty Cojones?

Undoubtedly, "Bend to Transcend" is a heavy Stoner rock onslaught. This is apparent from the tempo-deceptive riffage that opens "Have to Run" to the final moments of the unmistakably-titled paeon "Indika" that closes the album. What's most fascinating about Cojones is how they manage to be both pleasantly accessible (well, relatively) and yet also stay troo to the aggressive spirit.

Critically speaking, part of this accessibility is the undeniable fact that there's not much you haven't heard before -- unless you haven't ever been exposed to grunge, post-grunge, or any of the various permutations of doom and stoner metal. Downtuned heavy guitars are supplemented with bluesier leads, sometimes with dual-guitar harmonies, and the vocals range from melodic growling to manly wailing. Miro Cosic's drums steer away from the double-bass-meets-punk approach of so many others, opting for a heavy and sometimes tribal sound most pronounced during "Bend and Stretch" (my personal favorite of the eight tracks on the album).

Cajones would serve equally well as an opening band for Soundgarden, the Foo Fighters, or maybe even for one of the endless Tool offshoots, and are well-equipped to share a doomy bill with Electric Wizard and Cathedral. Sure, the more critical and contrary Melvins or Eyehategod fans might mutter about the band's tunefulness and comprehensibility, which denies "Bend to Transcend" any claim to audio subversion. You're not going to mosh much to Cojones, and you're probably not going to storm the embassy to them. Just light up and rock, bro.

Still, the riffing and screaming can get fierce at times -- the climax of "Sacred Fire" shows the band at its most intense. Which is ironically followed by the stealthily creeping lead-in to "Tide" in perfect stoner counterpoint. The latter song takes about three minutes to start rocking, and when it does, it lets you off easily after a chorus which praises "beautiful sunshine." Yes, kids, there's multiple levels of metaphor happening here... the whole song is tidal in structure. What, you didn't expect thoughtfulness and subtlety in Cojones' songcraft?

You'll warm to the surprisingly smooth vocal harmonies of the Bojan Kocijan / Gordan Tomic duo, mostly taking the form of an Alice-in Chains wail-and-growl octave, and occasionally taking the forefront -- as during the near a capella section of "Indika" which ably sets up the aforementioned frantic finale. Well done, dudes.

Okay, so there are a few more lighthearted elements, including the low-fi intro to "Hey Baby," which really wants to be clothed in polyester and accompanied by a Tarentino-esque swagger montage. If they'd only employed a wah-wah pedal for the Hendrixian guitars, the retro macho scene would have been complete. But the lyrics mention walking with demons, to avoid too much potential for self-parody.

Apart from the occasional nods to the funkier blues-rock roots, the album is largely a unified note of downtuned riffage and ballsy, heavy modern rock. You can hear the sludge in Cojones, but don't expect the discordant doom or political pique that you'd get from Eyehategod. This is a smoother, more radio-friendly midtempo sludge comparable to the mature version of Corrosion of Comformity; in which the cannabis has mellowed the production values. It'll still scare the squares, man, but it may not sufficiently anger your parents if they grew up during the grunge-soaked 90's. Especially if they still partake.

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