CD Reviews:

In the music industry, variety is the name of the game.  Each artist attempts to create something bold and original, but straying too far from the norm will scare off the audience.  Therefore, a balance must be achieved: be yourself, but don’t stray from convention.  In the world of electronic music, there is definitely a wide variety of responses to this dilemma.  Dream Continuum addresses this problem by branching off of an old but still fresh genre: jungle.

Junglists are well known for creating fresh beats but repeating them until listeners’ ears bleed, and that’s where Dream Continuum sticks to convention.  Reworkz has repetition down, whether it’s fast vocals or faster drum loops, you won’t hear anything just once.  That being said, Reworkz denies generic jungle tradition in other ways.

Jungle normally relies heavily on atmosphere.  Soft synths often fade into and out of existence and drum loops take listeners off into fantasy.  However, Dream Continuum chooses to focus on the beats rather than the atmosphere.  The vocals are loud and pounding, while the beats blast your ears off.  Classic jungle fans may be put off by this change in convention, but this does set Dream Continuum apart from the competition.

Reworkz does present some flaws, however.  Since the atmosphere was left on the cutting room floor, the whole style of the E.P. sounds …rough.  Some good advice from veteran ears would have been useful, since the album seems to be poorly mastered.  However, that doesn’t mean Reworkz isn’t worth listening to.  As an avid jungle listener, I give it a hearty recommendation.

–NM

Scorched Transmissions’ S/T debut is a work of art that has its ups and downs. Consisting of three members, Future Metz (Rapper), Avitar Virgonian and JD Casten, the group makes a Hip Hop album that definitely sounds original. For example, the track “iFold” features one of the most creative Hip Hop beats I’ve ever heard; the track is also unique in that rapping is used more like a sample and that makes rapping part integrated into the overall flow and development of the beat. From song to song the style of beats can range from Hip Hop to ambient, drone, electronic and trip hop. Lots of varying instruments are used to enhance the overall mood of the album, such as jazz instruments, and this works in favor of the band’s music. The producer is clearly talented and many of the highlights of the album can be found in its clever and atmospheric beats. However Scorched Transmissions is not a perfect album. Though his rapping sometimes help develop the song in a good way, often Future Metz’s plain rapping usually gets in the way and prevent the music from its full maturation. He does try varying his style by switching between spoken words and normal rapping, but he generally speaks at an awkward time and his flow is way too simplistic; his talent as a rapper is far from being impressive. Scorched Transmissions’ debut work wasn’t an impressive release, but it was a release that caught my attention. It would be interesting to see how they develop from here.
Grade: B

~by Tad Machida

Shuteye Unison

Album: Our Future Selves

Genre: Rock/Post-rock

I was expecting something loud, rough, and noisy when I turned on the first song. But then the album began to blend the rock-y, riff-y instrumentals with more mellow vocals, and there’s something attractive about it. The album develops a very ambient sound, almost to the point of eeriness. Good for 3am background music. Call me crazy, but the wispy whispering vocals almost remind me of Ben Gibbard.

Rating: B

Tracks: 3, 6, 7, 8, 9

Sounds like: Silversun Pickups

2011 marked another year in music ruled by women. Looking back at this phenomenal year, we can think of the biggest hits and notice one major similarity–they had female voices singing them!) Their massive releases ruled radio waves and iPod playlists for the greater majority of the world’s music lovers. What was notable were the releases by five female juggernauts–Beyonce, Adele, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears & Rihanna. In retrospect, which of the DIVA5 (see what I did there?!) fared best? Whose album is ranked dead last? Let’s proceed…

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“The Year of Hibernation” is the name of Youth Lagoon’s debut album on Fat Possum records. 22-year-old Trevor Powers (Youth Lagoon’s real name) could not have named his album more appropriately, mainly because it is the perfect album to fall asleep to. That is not necessarily a good thing, though. The album starts out enjoyably, with vibrating synths, relaxing bell-like whistles, and subtle percussion, and then continues to be just enjoyable throughout the rest of the 8 tracks. The album’s quick plateau becomes its weakness; it never climaxes or grows beyond a constant point of complacent pulsation. The record does well in being consistent, but it becomes so consistent that it eventually becomes boring; this entire album could actually just be an 8-part song.
Sometimes, minimalist songs are effective in highlighting an artist’s vocals and lyrics. But the filtered vocals that make the lyrics indecipherable throughout each track don’t really help or add much to these songs.
On its own, however “Daydream” (#5) is a stand-out track, a perfect capture of soothing synth pop. And Trevor Powers does deserve some credit for recording a full length LP in his bedroom and quitting his job at Urban Outfitters, where these songs are very likely to be put into shopper-friendly rotation.

Stand-out tracks: “Daydream,” “Montana,” “The Hunt.”

Grade: C+

The Drums, Portamento

Portamento is the second album by the American indie pop band The Drums, released September 2^nd of this year. I came across this album by surprise having never heard any of their music, and Portamento really began to grow on me.  The Drums have this sort of up-beat crossbreed of post-punk and indie rock and pop, and throughout this album I couldn’t help but hear the Joy Division influence slightly here and there, especially with tracks like “Please Don’t Leave,” “If He Likes It Let Him Do It,” and “I Need A Doctor,” maybe not so much the vocals but definitely the driving force of the songs reminds me of Joy Division. Portamento being the first album I listened to by them, I felt the need to listen to their first made self-debut album. Comparing the two, I can see a slight shift in these two albums with more catchiness and hooks, and even more seriousness in their lyrics. This album concerns a lot of themes of religion and being broke, while I can’t help but only remember them wanting to go surfing in their first album. This maturity really intrigued me, and I enjoy the direction they’re going and their growth. I can also sense more boldness in this album compared to their first album, and overall more confidence.

I first I heard of this band was when their single “Money” came out from this album. I was really impressed by their spunk and energy, so that made me excited to hear the rest of the album to see how it would grow after this one song. However, after I listened to the entire album, I was left initially a little disappointed. There were some aspects I was concerned about with this album. My main dissatisfaction with the album was there was little variety in each song structure throughout the entire album. A lot of the songs sound similar and have the same fast and up-beat guitar strums, and the drum parts are kind of hard to distinguish in almost every song. Although at first I was not immediately in love with this album, after a few listens, this album grew to be one of my favorites of 2011. It may be consistent and a little boring due to its consistency, but that’s sometimes needed and necessary, and it happened to be the album I really needed and I soon appreciated this consistency in this album.  It is now difficult for me to not like any of these songs on the album because the more I listen to it; the more I look at the songs individually and sense the subtle variety in every song.

Some personal favorite tracks of this album:

-Book of Revelation

-Hard To Love

-I Don’t Know How To Love

-I Need A Doctor

-Please Don’t Leave

-In The Cold

Overall, enjoyable album and one of my personal favorites now of 2011. I would give it a rating of +7/10, or light 8/10.

Atlanta’s MonstrO brings together a mesmerizing work of art in their self-titled debut. Composed of ex-members of Bloodsimple, Danzig and Torche, Kyle Sanders, Bevan Davies, Juan Montoya and Charlie Suarez creates a sound that reminds one of 70s hard rock. But that’s not all. By listening to the album, one can hear that this album is influenced by varieties of genres such as Progressive Rock, Psychedelic, Alternative Rock and even Sludge. These elements come together to form a perfect unison to make MonstrO’s debut album enjoyable to listen to.

As stated before, the influence of 70s hard rock is evident in MonstrO’s work. Such influence is most noticeable on songs like “Anchors Up!” and “Solar,” which are composed of catchy riffs that are reminiscent of Zeppelin and Deep Purple. MonstrO also blend elements of prog rock into their music; “Concertina” is a great example that brings together music from prog bands like Rush and hard rock bands like Van Halen while adding Psychedelic music into the formula as well. Some songs like “Apollo” incorporates Sludge, making the song sound atmospheric and dense. By incorporating such element, MonstrO does a marvelous job keeping the album heavy, but not overwhelming.

As a whole, I had a satisfying experience listening to MonstrO’s debuting album. However, that does not mean this album was flawless. “Elizabeth” for example was not as energetic as MonstrO’s other songs and at times sounded repetitive. Nevertheless, MonstrO’s debuting album is an excellent music and they have shown here that they can play smart and unique music.

Grade: B+

T. Machida (DJ Ziltoid)
Metal Manifesto
Saturday 10PM~12AM

Untitled | Image Map

This is the third album to come from the English countryside folk, Wild Beasts, and after the critical acclaim of the 2009 album, Two Dancers, Smother has a lot to live up to. The new album is certainly entitled to equal praise. Each track flows effortlessly from one to the next. The dream-like perfection of the music is immediately evident with the piano in ‘Lion’s Share’, and continues throughout the album, accompanied by the unique vocals of Hayden Thorpe, who provides poetic, heartbreaking lyrics. The lyrics really mean something to the band. The music means even more. The album’s first single, ‘Albatross’ is fantastic, and it will be a sin if ‘Plaything’ is not set to be the next one. Wild Beasts continue to push the boundaries of modern music, and Smother can only be sufficiently described with one word…beautiful.

Top tracks: Lion’s Share, Plaything, Albatross

Not a lot of band can pull off what Septicflesh manages to do. Following their successful 2008 release Communion, Christos, Fotis, Spiros, and Sotiris have created a work of art that can only be called a masterpiece, The Great Mass. Everything works perfectly in this album: the album flows with water-like fluidity, the band members’ technical skills are at their best, and the band’s compositional skill have improved tremendously.

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Cinemetropolis, the highly anticipated third full-length album from the Seattle duo Blue Scholars was released 2 weeks before the planned official release date of June 14^th. In an effort to connect directly with fans, Blue Scholars made the decision to independently release Cinemetropolis with the reasoning, “No record label. No marketing and distribution deal. No middlemen. No bullshit.” They explain the relation between their creative production and the music industry as an incompatible, even unnecessary pairing. Instead, Blue Scholars utilized the online project funding system Kickstarter, through which dedicated fans were encouraged to pledge to the cause with the promise of the digital album weeks before the official June release. The final total of $62,000 significantly eclipsed the original fundraising goal of $25,000.

The album takes inspiration from cinema and its vast influence on modern life. Many track titles represent esteemed individuals, some directly tied to the film industry. (Full track list available below.) Vocalist Geologic explains that the moving image has formed our “real” world so much that it often actually feels more real. The Scholars have plans with directors and filmmakers to create corresponding music videos, short films and multimedia projects, rendering Cinemetropolis a multidimensional, reverse-soundtrack of sorts.

As the third full-length album from Blue Scholars, Cinemetropolis is comparatively more sophisticated than previous albums and EPs, especially the more substantive, potent contribution from the remarkably skilled DJ/Producer Sabzi.  While Cinemetropolis brings Sabzi out from the background, it still showcases Geo’s smart, biting lyrics. Ultimately this makes the album an undeniably equivalent effort that displays a wide range of sentiment, from the sparkly 8-bit in “Cinemetropolis” to the grandiose, dark musing of “Anna Karina” to the tricksy synth and chill beat of the marijuana anthem “Tommy Chong.”

Still, even with the film influence and growth of the duo, the signature Blue Scholar flavor lives on. There remains a clear motif of social commentary, and as always, a rampant Pacific Northwest pride.

The Blue Scholars’ talent and profound motivation to make strong, relevant music for fans justifies high regard, and the skill in Cinemetropolis deserves applause for being an album that can irrefutably be called a work of art.

Track List and Details

Cinemetropolis

Hussein

Fou Lee (Seattle grocery store)

Lalo Schifrin (Composer)

Seijun Suzuki (Film maker)

Anna Karina (Actress)

Marion Sunshine (Actress)

Slick Watts (Basketball player, public figure)

George Jackson (Political activist)

Oskar Barnack ∞ Oscar Grant (Inventor, Martyr)

Yuri Kochiyama (Human rights activist)

Rani Mukerji (Actress)

Tommy Chong (Comedian)

Chief Sealth (Public figure, namesake of Seattle)

Fin

Everyone has a first favorite band. Some outgrow them, some forget about them. Luckily for me, my first favorite band still is a favorite. After over a decade of listening to Death Cab for Cutie and watching them gradually enter the big leagues, I can honestly say that they’re still extraordinary. If you enjoy good alt. rock, or just really good melodies, check out Death Cab’s upcoming album Codes and Keys which will be released this May 31st. It has been three years since the band has released their last album (the infectious Narrow Stairs), and I have no doubt that the band’s seventh album will be equally sensational.

The first released single “You Are A Tourist” is evidence of such sensation; like all of the band’s previous songs, this single feels as if it was carefully packaged with just the right amount of sooth and sentiment so that every fan falls right back into love with the band. If you loved the melancholic bittersweetness of the previous albums, then prepare for more, as this single holds all of the same elements Death Cab For Cutie is usually known for. There is the same Gibbard “ooo’s” and echos, the same detached feelings.

But don’t worry, Death Cab For Cute is still innovative. The single begins with a warped guitar and Ben Gibbard’s voice slightly glazed, signally subtle new changes in the band’s style. There’s also more drumming then guitar work, as evidenced in the harrowing end. Alan Moulder, the great mixer who has worked with other greats like Depeche Mode and The Smashing Pumpkins, is probably one reason for this. He was signed on to help produce “Codes and Keys”, and with his skills and Gibbard’s tender voice, there is no stopping this single.

If you, too, sometimes feel like a tourist in the city you were born, well then make double sure you pick up this album.

Liturgy’s latest release, Aesthetica, is an album that many traditional Black Metal fans would find disappointing. Unlike old Black Metal, you will not find blasphemy nor crushing angry atmosphere in Liturgy’s music. However that does not mean Aesthetica is a bad album. To put it in simple term, Aesthetica is Liturgy’s experiment: a experiment to see how the band can implement the chaotic, abrasive sounds of Burzum and Mayhem in a new way.

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Let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of Technical Death Metal. Its lack of song development, repetitive song structure and unnecessarily long guitar solos have always made me believe that Tech-Death is the weakest sub-genre of Metal. Despite all of that I absolutely loved the latest release from the German Progressive Technical Death Metal band, Obscura. Comprised of two former members of legendary Necrophagist, Obscura has released what may be one of the the best Metal album I’ve ever heard, Omnivium.

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We all have those new, relatively unheard-of artists that we think everyone should know about. Right now, Koreless is my guy. He has been popping up around the internet and various mixtapes for several months now, but his first official release brings us two fantastic singles. They both exemplify his rather unique sound – ambient electronic music with dreamlike melodies, glitch pad sounds and chopped vocals. The first time I heard MTI, I found it repetitive and slightly irritating, but with every listen I love it a little bit more and begin to appreciate all the layers and building of the track. If I had one criticism, it would be that both tracks seem quite unfinished. The quick and simple fade-outs prove these songs usually belong as part of a DJ set or mixtape. Hopefully future tracks will be edited before his album, because the amazing build-up of the tracks really deserve stronger climaxes for the CD format. Nonetheless, with an album expected from Pictures Music later this year, I am sure the young UK artist is going to have a big 2011.

- Phil Battersby

The Be Colony: Tues 10-Midnight

Coming just a year after his successful debut album Lucky Shiner, Gold Panda releases Companion. It is essentially a prequel to Lucky Shiner. It compiles 3 of his 2009 EP’s (Before, Miyamae, and Quitter’s Raga). For this reason, the album does not feel like a complete ‘body of work’, the way Lucky Shiner certainly does. Nonetheless, Companion holds some great individual songs. Gold Panda has a fantastic way of sampling, and can make some very atmospheric tracks with that static-sound he seems to like so much. Quitter’s Raga starts the album off with a perfect fusion of chopped vocals, glitch sounds and Indian raga. We are then brought back down into a more laidback, dreamy atmosphere with Fifth Ave, before beginning to feel some real, dark emotions creeping through in Like Totally. The album then tails off into some attractive drum & bass sounds with Win-San Western. Unfortunately, this is not the complete album his previous release was, but it is well worth a listen.

- Phil Battersby

The Be Colony: Tuesdays 10-Midnight