M83
Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts 2003 Strange musical happenings with beautiful melody interlacing the feel create an astounding piece of musical work, which opens with a short number featuring a robotic voice. As the odd sensation given by the symbolic speech combined with its inorganic origin washes over, the next track starts as the real opener for the album. Keyboard fills break the coastline with waves of moving glitters of arpeggio before drawn out and thoughtful electro organs drown out what remains of the initial excitement. As the sound crisps out into yet another track, more build-up pushes the energy back into driving position. A viewpoint of passing scenery enters the imagination as repeating and crossing over melodies canonise over a sea of distorted cymbals. Run into Flowers brings a vocal line into play for the first time, muttered lines that hide behind the overpowering mix of string and drum repeat and increase in amplitude until they fit more confidently in the mass of sound. Dreamy movements of composition sway from the milder side to the more emotional one until the repeating amalgams of music draw to a close, revealing a sudden drop in energy with a beautiful and ghostly pipe organ track which pushes out the creases and straightens out the sides. In Church is a moment of relaxation in what is quite a busy CD. The pulse is raised with the onset of America, a manic sensation of frantic voices brings new power to the so far tranquil listening experience. Now there's some dark energy being added to the experience, perhaps tensions in life need to be accounted for no matter how out there perspective can become. Timing and sound sample work together to make an artistic expression, the music is minimal and emotive but the communication of sensation is deeper than before. The album is entering our psyche from a new angle, filling out from the initial pleasant beginning. There's a lot of space in this work, the progressions are fast but plentiful which means a tidal flow becomes more like a swinging pendulum than an oceanic sway from one to another. Every track has a second dimension which draws on something different to its original feeling, but the work itself remains focused on human introspective qualities that are represented in clever melodies and synthesised sounds which seem to tap into the nerves dictating the flow of life's dreams.
Hawkwind
Hall of the Mountain Grill 1974 As the fourth album for psychedelic space rock outfit Hawkwind, the sound had been focused to a standard listeners could accept as theirs. Forming abstract pulse driven riff based rock with floating melodies which cling on to odd bars between their frolics of bounce, the band represents a generation of mind bending perception busting free thinkers. There are strong sci-fi themes in the delivery, the album art itself shows a spaceship rising from the surface of some ancient alien world. The hard rock opener namely The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke), brings the thrashing rhythms straight to the listener, progressive rock with a heavy first offering sets a tone for a high energy ride. The swirl out which follows brings about the next track after a moment of near silence, strange sounds of landscapes ravaged by winds give way to an organ that sings a sullen tune that sets a tone for something more down to Earth. Wind Of Change is a classic stand alone number that makes the band stand out as a great giver of feeling and far out melodrama which brings ever changing visuals to the closed eye motion picture we all see. A soundtrack for powerful, emotive colour and shape, the music swings by in a flight across a scenic soundscape of atmosphere and composition. As the melody progresses, a crescendo of instruments touching on Celtic themes pile up to silence, revealing the one organ again which links in to D-Rider, track three. A space-age effects processor allows the vocal to become vibrant and robotic, and the words tell stories of fantastic happenings. As the chorus breaks like a wave on the shore, culminations of voice, guitar, and key matched with heavy drums push the throttle down to full power. Helical formations of twirling sounds spin over each other, moving the feel from anticipation to charged and full on forward, the loop spins round again and again, revealing the energy of the track each time with a new direction. An epic album, tracks relate to each other in ways that allow them to flow as one or to stand by themselves as pieces of music. The original sounds of the groups earlier days come back to life through the progression of the first handful of futuristic mixes, fresh acoustic guitar and piano make homely additions to the cosmic and magical sounding layers that run throughout the entire thing. Up beat and catchy, the album works as a great reminder as to why this band need to be enjoyed more often.
Devin Townsend
Physicist 2000 Frantic swoops of powerful drumming matched with a frenzy of manic guitars and keys force this work to open with a huge rip down the musical tick-list of metal. In the run up to this work, something extremely heavy was the main idea, and Physicist takes the crown with ease. Namaste opens the epic and insanely fast and noisy album with a fireworks display of sound, angrily projected but deep insightful words make a dualistic experience of listening to the songs as pieces of music. Soon the progression of the ultra fast rhythms becomes more dramatic, and as the tempo starts making more sense, the merging of bars and fills make clever and shifting progressive metal. Melodic pulsing of heaviness sweep the music from left to right in a stereo experience of drama and energy. Soundtracks to high emotion and the pleasure of expression make rocketing songs that fly past as if forests in the window of moving train. Melodic phrasing that hides behind riff after riff gives a magical element and by the time we get to Material at track three, we understand that the calm isn't coming but the pace can be matched and when it is, we discover a place within the music that isn't heavy. It turns on its head and despite all the rules being followed for a rocking mad musical assault, something pleasant is taking place. It is the combination of predictability, melody, and riff structure that melts into a busy but steady flow of mental intoxication and metalising. As a tight and dramatic album, with hardcore metal foundations and a passion for reaching the higher end of the emotional scale, Physicist takes the elements of rock and creates a beautiful mandala of the raw ingredients that have so many times been thrown together in the name of making simple noise. This is noise plus art, and for the genre, it's extremely clever and enlightened. A heavy metal showdown that leaves you dazed, confused, and wanting to press repeat.
Prince
Loring Park Sessions 1977 As an instrumental album, the stage is cleared for the elaborate jazzy funk musical mastery of Prince, who in his younger days made a massive impact on the virtuoso musician scale, raising the bar for many names of the time and inspiring many more in years to come. That Red Hot Chilli Peppers groove was born in this era, and Prince was doing it long before they were. Here we have a noted composition of brilliance, opening with a paced and home hitting flurry. With a 19 year old Prince on guitar and keys, accompanied by a band, this timeless jam like album forms a journey of sound with every bar. There're no samey formulaic repetitions with this work, each new moment makes something new from the old, and although we get treated to familiar timings and structures, they just melt away into key shifts, riff variations, and simple but effective changes which make it a dynamic but rewarding experience. It's a real head mover, and toe tapper, the meat on the bones is given with a twist of classic energy that acts like a gravy, all sweet and tangy. Just at the right time, another shift in melody pulls us into a new phase over and over, meaning we are never left to wonder what is coming next. It's given to us on a plate every time we're hungry. The intuition is remarkable. New sounds and experimental keyboard melodies and voices give the album a flavour of the era, which remains true to the theme of jazz and funk, and they repeated use of time old scales that cause us to wobble inside make it really entertaining. Sit back, enjoy, or drive home after work, make the dinner, or do what you like. It will be better with this early session album. It was never released for sale, but it is available on Youtube to listen to.
Status Quo
Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon 1970 A fantastic blues opener throws us into a fun and thigh slapping jig from the concrete roots of previous eras, made modern for the day with the up-tempo and the rock distortions in the mix. Dancing piano riffs plug away at traditional patterns while guitar and harmonica jam around repetitive bouncy rhythms. As it finishes quickly and abruptly, some rock n roll riffs sweep in from the wings to deliver another fun and jumpy number. Psychedelic vocal effects with harmonising reverbs make an atmosphere of mystery, and the throbbing blues melody gets the head moving into a swirl of hypnotic enjoyment. An acid folk feel comes with the acoustic and close-in vocal sound that captures the nuances of Francis Rossi, as he lets out his gentler side. This is a lovely song with pretty tones, and it feels like a red carpet for Shy Fly, which plugs in the instruments and lets rip with a bluesy hard rock intro and a progression that fits a rock song, a pounding chorus and frantic stumming in time to treble heavy drums, the scene is set for head banging. Having made two albums previously, the journey to rock happened with this third release . Although uncharted at the time, it marks a transition period in the band's evolution. A juicy riff unfolds to make way for Junior's Wailing, a sing along number that carries a mixing style from the previous albums. A Hammond organ with easy to follow choral “nananas” give it an edge that touches on work of The Doors but also feels like something made by Hawkwind. It's an interesting fusion of ideals. More rock n roll blues style fills the heart of the next few tracks, and perhaps the new sound is ultimately brought into being during Lazy Poker Blues, where sexual innuendo and fast paced blues guitar licks frame a number full of musical passion. To close, some deeper and more dreamy sounds are drawn into play as the chorus of Is it Really Me drone away as a slower driven but equally meaty rock number, calling on the traditional blues style to build the skeleton for a powerful vocal and guitar duo jam over matching drums. For a band that has the reputation for always sounding the same, Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon seems to be an original and freshly written album that uses old fashioned structures to build something positive and challenging. It doesn't all sound the same.
David Bowie
Self Titled / Space Oddity 1969 A stereophonic experience with dramatic effects for the day, a classic opener enchants us with a story about about Major Tom and his escapades into the unknown. Perhaps a metaphor for how it feels to work hard on building an art career, or simply a reflection of the time with the Moon landings, “Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do”, sums up the temperament of the era, a summer of love and its cross polarity of traditionalists and straight edged realists. Getting a message across that fits the mould for an ever shifting culture is difficult and Bowie is famous for having the ability to grab hold of it every time it shifts. Some classic blues is pulled from the ether as a rocking guitar led emotive holler is bashed out in time to the swinging drum. Imagery and feelings make the lyrics dynamic and non repetitive, a storybook feel gives the song a deeper sense. A jam session of epic momentum dwindles the track to a close after several minutes of classic feel good grooves played to a consistent beat. Some smaller guitar sounds make the scene a little more crisp and small time for the comedy section that follows, and the up close and personal feel is continued with the reverberating well captured voice of Letter to Hermione. I know the album is old but the feelings strewn out over the lines of this song mean as much now as they did then. It's an I miss you song, but there's a short and sweet element to it that keeps the feeling in the right dose. More intimate lyrics and close in recordings give Cygnet Committee an interesting and theatrical flavour, which draws out the song into near ten minutes but releases its energy slowly in a progression of building melody and rhythm. Honesty and integrity make the core of Janine. A typical issue for men in the way women want to get to know hem well. This scares us, as we don't want our vulnerable side to put them off. Some psychedelia makes an interesting twist with the use of melody and pipes in Occasional Dream, an acoustic and vocal dance through images and memory. The pace slows once more to release the mellow musings of the historical Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud. It's a melodic and progressive musical number with a story and a theme that misses definition but retains it emotive power, we feel what he means more than understand it, but it's about hope and resolution more than anything. As an early work by this iconic musician, the framework of the sound is already established and a classic style is moulded by the songs on this record. From an era before music television, the way the songs are written and progress takes a page from a book we tend to leave on the shelf more often these days.
Motorhead
Overkill 1979 A rock n roll smash intro drives the album off the runway and into the air, title track Over Kill crashes the drums down with a relentless bass and guitar riff that underpin the rasping vocals of Lemmy. As the band kicked off with the massive sound they've become famous for, some cooled down blues replaces the hard-core power with Stay Clean, and a hard rock edge is bent slightly out of shape to make way for melodic flow. The passion for tune carries on into track three, where the guitars make a decent show of their voice, moving away from the formulaic and into the realms of experimental, fun and choppy licks give the sound a slightly fresher feel. With the title, I Wont Pay Your Price, and the more edgy and tuneful offering, the band are perhaps saying they wont sacrifice their ability for raw power each and every time. With a punky feel to the lyrics of I'll Be Your Sister, the anarchic transgender tongue in cheek frolic through paced riffs and punchy drums gives the Motorhead a decent oiling, and gets the gear back up to full revs. Slightly faster tempo and a frantic element to the drums matched with repetitive blues rock n roll guitars give the vocals a spat and shouted sound not dissimilar to other works of this same era. A live favourite, with a memorable intro, Capricorn makes its debut appearance on this album. The build up progression of the song with an eerie guitar effect to give a new direction of sound makes it a stand out track through-out their career. An anti-climax style chorus breaks down the build which although is counter—intuitive to a hard rock band, gives a different edge to an otherwise similar sounding encounter. With Capricorn, a slower rhythm and wandering guitars make this a fairly unique number, when considering the chorus style too. No Class rips open another can of rock n rol energy with a punk vocal melody about what could well be punk music at the time, but with a fast and thrashy blues riff that melts on the drums. More traditional form creates the highly enjoyable Damage Case, fun, originally put together but all together predictable, it;s an anti-love song with a smile. Another hard rock hand is dealt with Tear Ya Down, an aggressive and fast track that picks up the same energy as the start of the album. Melody makes another stand with Metropolis, a blues and rock song with a strong vocal delivery. Iconic riffs and memorable lyrics make this a Motorhead classic, and it gives way to Limb from Limb, originally the end of the classic album. A fun and morish blues melody flicks us over the hill and into a land of fun and cool musical breezes and drama, ready to end the album on a high, and with something to remember.
Type O Negative
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Astralasia Away With The Fairies Album Review
Astralasia
Away With The Fairies
Talking Elephant Records
2006
A smooth and silky down-tempo psychedelic pumping action drives track one, Seven Deadly Sins, introduced by a sexy saxophone soundalike, possibly an effected guitar or a violin, a rhythm of far reaching melodics swings around the stereo experience. Heady frills and crisp sampled beats give a whole handed approach to the sound, this treacle like texture drips from the amplitude and settles like cooling wax. Tips of the hat in the direction of Enigma give a familiar sense of zone, before the second track submerges us in ethnic abstraction.
Deville's Bridge slides the bar over to one side and allows some more punch to whittle itself into the flow. That crazy instrument pipes up again and it's hard hitting and in key. Wild splurges of honed brilliance crest like waves on the peaks of sound while the consistent drums allow for the grounding element to continue. The polar extremities of this piece go further than before, and our musical landscape is stretched to both sides of the map. An epic track that journeys and spirals in a trippy dance through the undertones of psychedelia, prerequisite to Bitchin' The Brew as track three, this long distance score gives us a chance to sit further back into the world that the album has given us.
Everything becomes very tranquil at the end of perhaps a little exhausting slog through the forest of before, now we're with the infamous brew, the world becomes a little more childlike and dreamy. It settles for a tone or two above that of Disney for just a moment, and as we get used to it, some of the most frantic but strangely satisfying drumming kicks in, carrying an almost jazzical feel that gives a breath of breezy air to the mix. A guitar solo adds to the layering and gives the spiral swirl that little twist that it needs to start spinning again and this time it all gets thrown together with a slice of lemon. The higher pitches and tones in the entire composition allow the speed to feel natural in comparison to the previous expanse of sound that had a more relaxed tempo.
That jazz sound is given new wings as the keys produce fascinating renditions of familiar but Picassoesque depictions of something from that genre. Pushed out waveforms and echoing percussive samples give energy that sounds new for this album and passing the half way mark with fresh sounds means we can be assured the artist is not going to rely on the same formula that has driven the lengthy pieces from before.
By the time we get to Wave of Probability, the older era of this group revives itself for the sound and some relaxing but functional music takes hold with a much more interesting and digestible section. Violin and drum with sweeping pulses of keyboard create a feather mattress for some spoken word lyrical poetry that appeals to that treacle like quality from before. Far from full circle, this evolution of appeal can be traced to the roots but remains a good distance from there they were planted. The over an hour production holds us in place for its duration and formulates an interest that keeps us pinned to the melody, while giving enough distance from the norm to aptly sit in a cosmic portion of the galaxy all on its own.
Away With The Fairies
Talking Elephant Records
2006
A smooth and silky down-tempo psychedelic pumping action drives track one, Seven Deadly Sins, introduced by a sexy saxophone soundalike, possibly an effected guitar or a violin, a rhythm of far reaching melodics swings around the stereo experience. Heady frills and crisp sampled beats give a whole handed approach to the sound, this treacle like texture drips from the amplitude and settles like cooling wax. Tips of the hat in the direction of Enigma give a familiar sense of zone, before the second track submerges us in ethnic abstraction.
Deville's Bridge slides the bar over to one side and allows some more punch to whittle itself into the flow. That crazy instrument pipes up again and it's hard hitting and in key. Wild splurges of honed brilliance crest like waves on the peaks of sound while the consistent drums allow for the grounding element to continue. The polar extremities of this piece go further than before, and our musical landscape is stretched to both sides of the map. An epic track that journeys and spirals in a trippy dance through the undertones of psychedelia, prerequisite to Bitchin' The Brew as track three, this long distance score gives us a chance to sit further back into the world that the album has given us.
Everything becomes very tranquil at the end of perhaps a little exhausting slog through the forest of before, now we're with the infamous brew, the world becomes a little more childlike and dreamy. It settles for a tone or two above that of Disney for just a moment, and as we get used to it, some of the most frantic but strangely satisfying drumming kicks in, carrying an almost jazzical feel that gives a breath of breezy air to the mix. A guitar solo adds to the layering and gives the spiral swirl that little twist that it needs to start spinning again and this time it all gets thrown together with a slice of lemon. The higher pitches and tones in the entire composition allow the speed to feel natural in comparison to the previous expanse of sound that had a more relaxed tempo.
That jazz sound is given new wings as the keys produce fascinating renditions of familiar but Picassoesque depictions of something from that genre. Pushed out waveforms and echoing percussive samples give energy that sounds new for this album and passing the half way mark with fresh sounds means we can be assured the artist is not going to rely on the same formula that has driven the lengthy pieces from before.
By the time we get to Wave of Probability, the older era of this group revives itself for the sound and some relaxing but functional music takes hold with a much more interesting and digestible section. Violin and drum with sweeping pulses of keyboard create a feather mattress for some spoken word lyrical poetry that appeals to that treacle like quality from before. Far from full circle, this evolution of appeal can be traced to the roots but remains a good distance from there they were planted. The over an hour production holds us in place for its duration and formulates an interest that keeps us pinned to the melody, while giving enough distance from the norm to aptly sit in a cosmic portion of the galaxy all on its own.
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Vangelis
1492 Conquest of Paradise
Atlantic Records
1992
Scored as a soundtrack for the film of the same title, Conquest of Paradise tells the emotional story of Christopher Columbus, his legendary voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and his discovery of the Americas. Perhaps one of the first generations of modern Europeans, Columbus and his crew are now world famous as explorers and pioneers into a new world.
Pipes from tribal origins matched with wooden sounding percussion open the score as a harp sound delicately illuminates the composition. A short and artistic piece, merely a run-up for what is due to play next. The title track and number two on the listings was used as a socialist song for a Portuguese political party who went on to win their election. The pseudo Latin chanting and moving piano melody perhaps stirring the patriot in anyone who cares, choral shifts of tone into brief epic movements affirm any notion of pride that has been kindled.
Monastery of La Rabida brings the intensity down to a more manageable dose, but regains the beautiful edge that was so poignant from the more resounding previous number. Cool tempo and musical tides allow the feeling to linger on until the mood is shifted like a scene in a film not confined to real time. City of Isabel is somewhere new and majestic, stringed instruments gratify a sense of inner nostalgia for the medieval city landscape, stone buildings and horses tied to wooden bars. Light and Shadow takes this further again, reinventing the choral voices for a new setting, a deep and dark element hides gently behind emotional pourings of magical sounding words.
West Across the Sea symbols the half way mark in the story and the album too, and the composer has taken an opportunity to make the dualistic experience of the film slide nicely into the workings of his accompanying soundtrack. Moving away from the familiar and into the unknown, using electronic music as a backbone for a classical sounding album, maybe Vangelis felt a bit like Columbus venturing into uncharted and possibly dangerous waters and beyond.
For music, the album is exciting and dynamic. As a story, it definitely speaks in feelings and for the lack of identifiable words, the match-up to self could take many forms. Working together like this has perhaps allowed both composer and director to unify their talents to create something eternal, and beyond the reach of human hands. The record sales of the day told the real story, with hundreds of thousands being sold in many countries.
1492 Conquest of Paradise
Atlantic Records
1992
Scored as a soundtrack for the film of the same title, Conquest of Paradise tells the emotional story of Christopher Columbus, his legendary voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and his discovery of the Americas. Perhaps one of the first generations of modern Europeans, Columbus and his crew are now world famous as explorers and pioneers into a new world.
Pipes from tribal origins matched with wooden sounding percussion open the score as a harp sound delicately illuminates the composition. A short and artistic piece, merely a run-up for what is due to play next. The title track and number two on the listings was used as a socialist song for a Portuguese political party who went on to win their election. The pseudo Latin chanting and moving piano melody perhaps stirring the patriot in anyone who cares, choral shifts of tone into brief epic movements affirm any notion of pride that has been kindled.
Monastery of La Rabida brings the intensity down to a more manageable dose, but regains the beautiful edge that was so poignant from the more resounding previous number. Cool tempo and musical tides allow the feeling to linger on until the mood is shifted like a scene in a film not confined to real time. City of Isabel is somewhere new and majestic, stringed instruments gratify a sense of inner nostalgia for the medieval city landscape, stone buildings and horses tied to wooden bars. Light and Shadow takes this further again, reinventing the choral voices for a new setting, a deep and dark element hides gently behind emotional pourings of magical sounding words.
West Across the Sea symbols the half way mark in the story and the album too, and the composer has taken an opportunity to make the dualistic experience of the film slide nicely into the workings of his accompanying soundtrack. Moving away from the familiar and into the unknown, using electronic music as a backbone for a classical sounding album, maybe Vangelis felt a bit like Columbus venturing into uncharted and possibly dangerous waters and beyond.
For music, the album is exciting and dynamic. As a story, it definitely speaks in feelings and for the lack of identifiable words, the match-up to self could take many forms. Working together like this has perhaps allowed both composer and director to unify their talents to create something eternal, and beyond the reach of human hands. The record sales of the day told the real story, with hundreds of thousands being sold in many countries.
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