CircleDown – Mobius EP

It’s a subtle thing, really, but it’s those subtle things that separate the pretenders from the contenders.  What I’m talking about here, oh waverider, is texture.  Having the confidence in the music and the playing to mix things up a bit.  Bring in contrast.  Nuance. 

You can pummel me all you want with screamo growls, chugging guitars, piledriver drums and anger.  It won’t impress me.  The louder you scream the wider my mouth will gape in a bored yawn.  But drop out the guitar, ride a bass riff, allow the noise to settle into an ambient dream, bring back the scream, counter it with a real melody, I mean a real, honest-to-goodness, sing-along melody, and suddenly you have my ear.

And to that regard, this 4 song EP captured my ear, tied it up, and is still holding it for ransom.

Following in a post-Linkin Park world of nu-metal riffs, synth textures, clean and angry vocals, CircleDown look primed to capture that throne that Linkin Park vacated long ago.  And they do it their own way.  While the Linkin Park reference is the best place to start with these guys, it’s in no way where they end.  Heavier than LP ever was, CircleDown toss some serious metal into the fray, along with their tight-as-nails songwriting.

“Halfstep,” brings the contrasting edges of CircleDown to the front right off the bat.  Gentle acoustic guitars, ambient textures lead us, guiding us gently, or rather misguiding us to the huge frenetic burst of crashing guitars and assailing beats.  Vocals interplay clean and harsh, the occasional rap, with a solid gold melody keeping the whole thing hanging together.   And when I say these guys rock harder than LP, I mean HARDER.  Mid song breakdown is pure metallic frenzy, which works deliciously with the contrast of the return to the sweet melody.  Contrast baby.  Texture.  It works.

As good as that first track is, “Ashes Falling,” is even better.  This baby launches off with a metallic riff just stolen from the glory days of the NWOBHM.  A real neckbreaking headbanger, revved up and amped up.  The dirty vocals wails off in some personal hellish torment while the clean vocals keep that always present melody anchoring the song.  “Crash,” begins with an almost Floyd-ish electro-passage, keys percolating in the foreground while the metal rises underneath.  Nice touch, as is the dropout of the riff and the rise of the bass line carrying the verse.  The drummer adopts an extra arm or two during this song, finding those extra limbs necessary to fill out some of those beats.   “ReConstitute,” launches off all industrial-fury, grinding into a riff that could weld steel together.  By this time, the band’s surrises aren’t surprising.  I’m expecting a melody about as infectious as metal will allow, some serious chops, a big, soaring chorus, and a nifty instrumental breakdown.  The boys never fail to deliver.

What I’ve discussed are just the barebones of this impressive EP.  I’ve said nothing of the frankly beautiful, freak-jazz breakdown in “Ashes Falling,” or the muted, ambient stutter stop in “HalfStep.”  But then sometimes it’s best to leave something for you waveriders to discover on your own. 

If you’ve been wondering what is pop metal will be like in the post LP years.  Here it is.  Violent and aggressive with the heart of a metal beast and the brain of a tunesmith.   Jump in without fear. 

--Racer

http://www.circledown.com/

Ripple News - Rolling Stones Legendary Concert Finally Available on DVD and Blu-ray

Ladies and Gentlemen…The Rolling Stones is finally coming to DVD on October 12th.  The DVD features Rolling Stones concert footage, shot over four nights in Texas during the Exile on Main Street tour in 1972, which was recently released in cinemas around the country for a one-day, one-time engagement. The DVD also includes previously unreleased rehearsal footage and interviews with Mick Jagger from 1972 and 2010.

This is probably the most sought after Rolling Stones concert performance and it has been fully restored and remastered from the original film print and multitrack audio masters. Ladies & Gentlemen follows the highly successful CD reissue of Exile On Main Street (Universal Music Group) in May of this year and the Stones In Exile DVD (Eagle Rock Entertainment) on June 22, 2010.  The October 12 releases will be followed shortly after by a deluxe edition box set with additional bonus material and memorabilia.

Filmed in Texas in 1972 over four nights of the Exile On Main Street US tour, Ladies & Gentlemen was premiered at the Ziegfield Theatre in New York on April 15, 1974 and released into selected cinemas across the USA shortly afterwards. Bonus features on this release include tour rehearsal footage from Montreux, plus two interviews with Mick Jagger; one from a 1972 Old Grey Whistle Test show, and one filmed in 2010.

The line-up for this show comprised Mick Jagger (vocals), Keith Richards (guitars), Charlie Watts (drums), Bill Wyman (bass), Mick Taylor (guitars) with Bobby Keys (saxophones), Jim Price (horns) and Nicky Hopkins (piano).  Ladies & Gentlemen was billed at the time as “…the most powerful rock film ever made” and is considered by many fans to be the finest Rolling Stones performance ever captured on film.  This is simply unmissable!

Track Listing:
1.)   Brown Sugar
2.)  Bitch
3.)  Gimme Shelter
4.)  Dead Flowers
5.)  Happy
6.)  Tumbling Dice
7.)  Love In Vain
8.)  Sweet Virginia
9.)  You Can’t Always Get What You Want
10.) All Down The Line
11.) Midnight Rambler
12.) Bye Bye Johnny
13.) Rip This Joint
14.) Jumpin’ Jack Flash
15.) Street Fighting Man

Buy here: Ladies & Gentlemen The Rolling Stones
Buy here: Ladies & Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones [Blu-ray]

MY EYES

Um, yeah, enjoy...I think

DOCTOR WHO

More mini-bits are coming out about the Christmas Special:

TOYS OUT OF A PRAM

So the unions are threatening 'French style strikes' over the prospect of their pensions being altered.

I have said over and over again that we cannot afford the public sector (PS) pensions bill. WE couldn't ten years ago and we certainly can't now.

The reason why PS got good pensions was that traditionally PS was poorly paid, jobs for life.

But...

Since Labour got in, PS outstripped the private sector in terms of pay and conditions.

So what is the excuse for brilliant pensions?

Apparently some PS workers are still poorly paid.

Well, y'know what, so are some private sector workers. But they are not going to get the taxpayer to fund their retirement.

So why should PS expect the taxpayer to do so?

You are not some special breed that needs credit and protection. You, in essence, are people who do not generate wealth for this country, you spend the wealth of the nation.

So what makes you so special?

Oh and to the unions, 'French-style strikes'? Fair enough, but on one condition, we should be allowed to have Gendarmerie-styled response to these threats.

Remember, if you throw all your toys out of a pram, you will end up with no toys.

ONE OF US

According to the Bish, Miss Snuffy, aka Katharine Birbalsingh who spoke so passionately about how the State education system has failed children at the Tory conference, has been sent to work from home - suspension by any other term.

Now it should be pointed out that there could have been breaches of child confidentiality but I do suspect that it will be the hook to hang her on because she dared to speak out.

Once again we see how the orthodoxy outweighs any such high minded ideals like, erm, free speech.

Time and time again I have argued that free speech is not a pic n mix, either everyone has it or no one has it.

The left-wing educational establishment freely allows its Marxists to criticise, threaten and cajole us all but as soon as one stands up and says the Emperor has no clothes, the principle of free speech goes out of the window.

Miss Snuffy was no longer "one of us" and had to be punished.

Once more the educational orthodoxy fails children. Instead of looking at the issues behind the critique and looking inside itself to see how there are a bunch of feckless, ruthless kids who are barely able to read and write, it punishes those that fail to tow the line.

It is the educational establishment that should be sent home, not a teacher who's passion for teaching has led her to 'out' herself at the Tory conference in the belief that children should come first.

UPDATE: Dizzy has pointed out that the head teacher at Snuffy's school allowed Blair to use her school to launch his 2001 election campaign!

And to quote Iain Dale:

Quentin Letts's new book "Letts Rip!" includes an account of the day Bishop allowed her south London school to be used by Tony Blair for the launch of the 2001 general eleciton campaign. It notes that "Mrs Bishop is a fanatical Blairite who considers him the most wonderful Prime Minister in the world".
The piece describes how Blair used Bishop's school remorselessly for political ends. For Birbalsingh now to be accused of political agitation is unbelievably hypocritical.

Indeed!

Shadowgarden – Ashen

I usually find gothic rock a mixed bag of goodies. On the negative, the music can be sappy and overly glorifying in its depression. On the positive, it can be sappy and overly glorifying in its depression. Basically, what I’ve found is that when gothic rock is done good, it can be a thrilling ride into tragic romance and deep brooding desire for love, and that’s what I’m getting with Shadowgarden’s Napalm Records release, Ashen. For the most part, the music is upbeat, driving, and can flat out rock. There are some of the quieter, more moody moments mixed into the album, and they work to perfection as well. Let’s put it this way, when I listen to Ashen, I don’t feel the need to light candles, kill the lights, drink wine and stare out a picture window at the falling rain. I want to take said glass of wine, throw it fiercely at the wall, and destroy my furnishings!

Ashen is layered with great dynamics and haunting melodies, and the vocals of Johan Ericson are powerful, yet you can hear a certain amount of vulnerability to them. The guitars have a nice crunching tone to them, but they’re not overbearing and oppressive. There’s an almost accessible quality to the production of this album and the songs could very easily find their way on your more alt oriented rock stations. I hear a lot of Paradise Lost in this, but not the discordant elements of P.L., more like the heavy melodic moments . . . basically everything that I’ve ever loved about Paradise Lost. There’s another sound weaving its way through this music, but I can’t put my finger on it . . . but when I do, whoa-boy! Don’t think for a second that I won’t tell you who it is!

Ashen opens subtly with “Shadowplay” and a beautifully strummed acoustic guitar, and then the up tempo, dense wall of distorted guitars explode in a shimmering display of melodic excitement. The song ebbs and flows between soft, ambient passages to huge choruses filled with the kind of melodies that would have an arena full of happy-we’re-sad fans singing their asses off. I particularly like the dynamics that these guys show n the song writing and production of this song. They’ve created an excellent mood with the music and they keep the song moving forward, rocking heavy when they need to and creating elements of serenity to break up the bombast. The more I listen to this, the more I marvel at the intricate elements mixed into the various sounds. Shadowgarden do an excellent job at song-craft and I’m compelled to give this song yet another spin due to the interesting bits of ear candy mixed throughout.

You can’t have good goth-rock without the inclusion of a female voice and Shadowgarden do just that on “With Love and a Bullet.” Though it may seem cliché to have the female voice worked into music of this particular genre, it also seems naked without it, and in truth, “With Love and a Bullet” is enhanced by this element. Lisa Johansson voice is amazing! So elegant and sensual, so sorrowful and hurt, so vibrant and filled with emotion, Johansson works her voice to perfection as the music shifts from explosively distorted bursts of guitar, drum, and bass to synth-driven, quieter passages. And once the song hits the chorus, feel the heart strings get pulled as she separates her voice from the harmonies and essentially carries the song to the stratosphere and beyond. Again, this track is exquisitely crafted . . . listen to all of the fascinating pieces of aural sweetener dancing around the mix on this one . . . little vocal add-on’s, textural guitar pieces hidden behind the distorted bass rumblings, volume swells of keyboards making the song sound even bigger than it is. You can’t listen to this one just once, there’s just way too much going on that requires your attention!

“Murky Waters” is another haunting gem, incorporating big key strikes on the synths over the droning walls of guitars. The chaotic elements of sound suddenly dissolve to reveal Ericson’s beautiful and sultry voice crooning about personal isolation and inner torment. Accented with those huge bursts of sound that we’ve come to expect, the vocal performance on this song is no less than magnificent. Whether he’s singing over barren soundscapes powered by keyboards and rhythm or over heavy and imposing guitar riffs, the voice retains a level of elegance and composure. Kind of like the musical equivalent of falling in a pile of shit and coming out smelling like a rose, Ericson’s voice has a shine to it no matter how dark its surroundings.

“Slowmotion Apocalypse” shows Shadowgarden wrinkling the fabric of the sonic tapestry. With the last track on the album, the band suddenly throws the mid-tempo or upbeat romantic drama to the side of the road and slow the tempo way down, akin to being so worn and tired by the weight of their guilty burdens, the music crawls through the gloom, never out of it. This song shows a heavier side to the band, even when the song breaks down to its ambient core and acoustic arpeggios, the song is a slug . . . and I mean that in the most positive way. They even utilize a little death growl in the vocal performance that, for me, enhances the dreadful mood and texture of the song. Searing guitar leads blaze from the din, acting a brief glimmer of hope in the darkened mire of depression. Brilliant song . . . fucking brilliant song!

Alright . . . never heard of these guys before and it turns out that this is their debut album, though Ericson is no stranger to the genre. Apparently this guy fronts or is an important cog to a band called Draconian, who share the mindset of bands like Sentenced (Racer just got a boner). For me, that matters not. What matters to me is that Ashen is a top to bottom emotional mover and ear pleaser.  Think what liked the most about it was just as I was beginning to think I knew where they were going they changed things up by tossing in a curveball at the very end to make me question everything that I’d previously heard and made me want to go back to try and rediscover something that I must have missed. Also, the songwriting and production aspects are out of this world, making me want to continue spinning this one because it feels so fucking good! Hat’s off, gents . . . can’t wait to see where you go with the next one!  -  Pope

buy here: Ashen
mp3: Ashen

www.myspace.com/shadowgardenmusic

www.napalmrecords.com

 

PIXIE DUST

WIth all the fuss over blowing kids' heads off, I did have a question for eco-loons -

To those in Greenpeace who use dinghies*

To those in their Prius

To those who go to eco-conferences

To those who attack "climate change deniers" online

To those who read the Guardian

To those that make 'humerous' films blowing up children

Where exactly do you think the energy that you are using comes from? Pixie Dust?
I mean come on. Even your precious windmills need the National Grid to keep themseves going let alone the air miles alone just to create a Prius and the eco-damage Prius make through nickle mining.

Seriously, you guys lecture, hector, and offend people in your insistence that we all go green yet the damage you yourselves do seem to be blithely ignored by you.

Hypocrites. I've said before that if climate is changing, it is probably a natural cycle and we should be preparing our adaption to the environment because there is sod all that we can do to halt a natural cycle.

Sustainability is a worthy goal. We need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels because not only are they probably finite - therefore will become more expensive - but also because the countries where we get our fuel are not necessarily the most stable places in the world and it would be stupid to end up being hostage to events.

Food and water will become increasing factors to global instability as the human population grows, in certain areas there will be wars over this. With war and/or famine comes migration and by God I suspect we are pretty full right now and already we need to consider how to feed our population if these events occur.

So sustainability in both power, water and food should be a desirable goal, not because of some pseudo-marxist crap but because it may become a necessity.

In the meantime, if you eco-loons hate us all so much, lay off our pixie dust eh?

*In case anyone is confused about the dinghy one - most Ribbed craft (the ones Greenpeace love whizzing around oil rigs on)are mainly made out of Hypalon, neoprene or PVC. Rigid dinghies are usually made of glass-fiber reinforced plastic. All of which are based on, er, oil!

Ripple Theater - Cactus - Live, Loud & Proud DVD

You can’t kill the boogie. Boogie will never die! Cactus broke up in 1972 but in 2006 original members Carmine Appice, Tim Bogert and Jim McCarty recruited powerhouse vocalist Jimmy Kunes and harmonica player Randy Pratt to resurrect the band and bring the power of the boogie pack to the people.

Captured live n nasty on their 2006-07 tour, this disc finds Cactus to still be a potent force to be reckoned with. Carmine proves once again that he’s the best rock drummer around and Tim’s bass playing is equally powerful. Guitarist Jim McCarty simply blazes. It’s such a shame more people don’t know how great he is. These three muthers can really burn! Add Jimmy’s raspy, soulful vocals and Randy’s honking harmonica and you’ve got a blues party that you can put to use.

Old classics like “Let Me Swim” and “One Way Or Another” sit nicely alongside songs from their reunion album Cactus V like “Muscle and Soul” and their personal anthem “Cactus Music.” Everyone gets a chance to shine but a real highlight is when Jim and Carmine play a killer duet before setting up Carmine’s epic drum solo in their radical reworking of Howlin Wolf’s “Evil.” Tim shows all the bass players how it should be done on “Oleo.” The climax of the show is an ultra-speedy “Parchman Farm” that slays.

Bonus materials include a cool jam session with Warren Haynes, Joe Bonamassa and Pat Travers with Jim and Pat playing really nicely together. There are also some interesting interviews with the band where they talk about how they really were intent on blowing everyone away. Their version of “Parchman Farm” was in direct response to the type of thing Ten Years After was doing with “I’m Going Home” but Cactus wanted to make it even more extreme. Everyone needs more Cactus in their life so check out this DVD and make sure to turn it up.  -- Woody

Buy here: Cactus - Live, Loud & Proud

DUDE

On a slightly related post to below, Steve 'The Dude' Rude is facing foreclosure on his house as he is yet another to be hit by the downturn.

As a result he is flogging off a lot of his artwork to try and stave of the auction which will be held on 15 November.

If you love good comic art with just a hint of Kirby in it, then get over to ebay, or Steve's site, and grab yourself some comic art gold!

HT: Comics Cube

UNDER PRESSURE

No, not the Cameloons, homelessness.

Now I now a few out there sneer at the idea of homelessness but it is a real problem. People get stuck in a spiral, be it debt, drugs, alcohol, and find themselves on the streets, lost, bewildered, not knowing how to get out.

Some falter, some manage to haul themselves out.

It can happen to anyone, me, you - yes you, you may think "nonsense!" but all it takes is a job loss, money problems, eviction, you could very quickly enter the spriral, become under pressure.

Look at this great video then think about helping out. If you don't have money, acknowledge the beggar or Big Issue seller, make eye contact when you say sorry. Knowing people still see them as human beings is as much of a help as a cigarette or a bit of spare change.



Ht: The bish

DANCE IRON MAN DANCE

Just because

Iron Man Dance from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

ht: Bleeders

Various Artists Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three

Court will come to order.  This is somewhat embarrassing for me but I have a confession to make.  Even though I am a big fan of old school punk rock, I only recently bought a copy of The First Four Years from Black Flag.  I know, I know!  Shame washes over me in waves, but hold on a second before you pass sentence.  Allow me an attempt to defend myself.  I may not have owned the originals, but that does not mean I have been unfamiliar with many of the mighty Flag’s songs.  Your Honor, members of the jury, I’d like to introduce Exhibit A into evidence.

What is Exhibit A you ask?  Why, only an absolutely crushing album that appeared late in 2002 we will refer to as Rise Above.  This album is the brainchild of Henry Rollins, a name that might be familiar to some of you, and was brought about as part of his efforts to raise money for the defense fund of three incarcerated young men known as the West Memphis Three.  While it is not my place to give an opinion on their plight during my own trial, I will direct you to www.wm3.org for some interesting, perhaps infuriating reading material.  Getting back to the case at hand…yes, Henry Rollins wanted to produce a record which would adequately convey his outrage over what he perceived to be a great injustice.  To do this he needed to utilize what he believed to be the ultimate protest music, the songs of Black Flag.

Now with the desired music in mind, he decided what kind of benefit record to produce.  Sure there was the tried and true option of getting other bands to record a cover of their favorite track, but that would not produce the cohesion that Rollins was seeking.  No, in order to make something that flowed well from start to finish he hired the band Mother Superior (not coincidentally they were Rollins Band at the same time) to lay down blistering, inspired versions of all the chosen Black Flag songs.  Once that was completed, the only remaining issue facing Rollins was who would sing on the record.  Believing that very little notoriety would be gained from having only himself singing, he decided to match each song with a hand-picked vocalist.  And this ladies and gentlemen, is how Rise Above achieves the colossal status that it deserves.

The laundry list of vocalists that took time to be a part of this album reads like a who’s who from the entire music world.  All-star lineup does not do them justice.  You don’t believe me?  Fine, I’ll illustrate.  From the punk world there is Iggy Pop, Keith Morris, Exene Cervenka, Tim and Lars from Rancid, Chuck Dukowski, Casey Chaos, Inger Lorre, Kira Roessler, and Henry Rollins (of course!).  Rock singers more your thing?  How about Neil Fallon, Cedric Bixler Zavala, Mike Patton, Tom Araya, Corey Taylor, Dean Ween, NickOliveri, and last but certainly not least Lemmy.  And that’s not all!  No sir, covering the worlds of hip hop and country are Chuck D, Ice T, Hank III, and Ryan Adams.  Phew!  I’ll just say this.  If you read the names of all those vocalists and failed to get excited over the inclusion of just one of them, we’re not friends and you need to throw away your music playing devices.

As stated before all of these vocalists were hand picked, then matched up to the Black Flag song their voice/attitude was most compatible with.  Great care was clearly taken in this regard, and the results are absolutely devastating.  I’m not joking.  Pick any song on this album and listen with awe as the vocals deliver haymakers to your eardrums with their inherent greatness.  Personal favorites include Hank III’s sublimely psychotic take on “No Values”, Casey Chaos furiously ripping apart “Depression”, Neil Fallon’s thunderously gruff “American Waste”, and Mike Patton’s frenetic/spastic “Six Pack”.  Why stop there when Tom Araya lays his arresting sandpaper screams over “Revenge”, and Lemmy lends a previously unheard musicality to “Thirsty and Miserable” with his trademark rumblings.  What really amazes me though is listening to Keith Morris on the original “Nervous Breakdown” and then listening to his new take onthe same song off of Rise Above.  The man displays substantially more vim and vigor throughout the new version, and has clearly learned a thing or two over the intervening years in conveying anger effectively through his voice.  Simply phenomenal!

In conclusion your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury…yes, I am guilty of not owning the original versions of most Black Flag songs till early this year.  But let’s not pretend I have had no prior knowledge of these wonderful Greg Ginn/Chuck Dukowski compositions up to this point.  That would be factually inaccurate seeing as how I have shown through corroborating evidence that for almost a decade now the aforementioned music has been a strong presence in my life.  All I ask is that you pick up the album RiseAbove: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three, listen to it, love it, and then come to a decision.  I rest my case.Actually, on second thought, you had better not listen first.  You’ll be so overwhelmed with enjoyment, we won’t see you for a while as you listen to the album over, and over, and over again.

--Penfold

OOPS

It's always good fun looking at a train wreck happening.

Everyone knows about the 10:10 camtpaign film, written by Richard Curtis.

You know, the one where it's OK to blow up children who disagree with climate change, the one that my sprog will not be allowed to watch because, quite frankly, she would have nightmares.

Well, not only did 10:10 apologise, but have now apologised to its sponsors:

As you may have heard, last week, 10:10 made a mistake by releasing a short film about cutting carbon which was supposed to be humourous but in the event upset a lot of people. We quickly realised that we had made a serious mistake and took it down from our website within hours.

We also issued a statement apologising but there has subsequently been quite a lot of negative comment, particularly on blogs, and understandable concern from others working hard to build support for action on climate change.

We are also sorry to our corporate sponsors, delivery partners and board members, who have been implicated in this situation despite having no involvement in the film’s production or release

I am very sorry for our mistake and want to reassure you that we will do everything in our power to ensure it does not happen again.

10:10 is a young and creative team but we will learn lessons from this. We are going to investigate what happened, review our processes and procedures, and share the results with our partners. Responsibility for this process is being taken by the 10:10 board of directors.

This media coverage for this film was not the kind of publicity we wanted for the cause of saving the climate, nor for 10:10, and we certainly didn’t mean to do anything to distract from all the efforts of those in other organisations who are working so hard to secure effective action on climate change.

If you have been in touch with us personally about the film, we will be replying to individual emails over the next few days. I’m sorry not to have emailed you about this more quickly - although I have followed developments closely, I’ve been working from home with a four-week-old baby. I thank you for your patience and your support for the 10:10 campaign.

Eugenie Harvey

Director 10:10 UK

I presume this has nothing at all to do with Sony disassociating itself from this disgusting film:

Thank you for your email concerning the video released by the 10:10 climate change campaign group. Sony has supported the 10:10 climate change campaign because we share its objective to reduce carbon emissions. However, we strongly condemn the "No Pressure" video, which was conceived, produced and released by 10:10 entirely without the knowledge or involvement of Sony.

The company considers the video to be ill-conceived and tasteless. We also believe this video risks undermining the work of the many thousands of members of the public, schools and universities, local authorities and many businesses, of which Sony is one, who support the long-term aims of the 10:10 movement and who are actively working towards the reduction of carbon emissions.

As a result we have taken the decision to disassociate ourselves from 10:10 at this time.

Swississippi Chris Harper - Four Aces And A Harp

Lately I have received a plethora of blues harp albums.  By the volume received you would think that everyone in America plays a pocket blues orchestra. A few artists are distinctive - a cut above the rest.  But, generally, blues harmonica players play covers. Most blow a decent Willie Dixon, Lightinin’ Hopkins or Muddy Waters tune or two.  The problem comes from a desire to compare.

I have heard the original recordings. The originals are old, scratchy and monophonic - victims of the state of technology at the time they were recorded.  Yet, they are full of heart, soul and passion.  Through the tin cup, hollow bass, sound of the original recordings there is the visage of true emotion and amazing instrumental improvisation.  Unfortunately, many modern blues artists take such improvisation as gospel and play exactly as the blues master recorded it.  So, how do you compare the original rendition to that of the cover? You look for the artists to make the songs their own.  You listen for feeling. You hope for the unexpected.  Does it move you or is it a mundane faithful reproduction?

One of the discs I recently received is a new release Four Aces And A Harp from Swississippi Records with namesake “Swississippi” Chris Harper (what better name for a harmonica player than “Harper?”) blowing eighteen tracks of blues - fifteen of which are covers of songs by blues greats, two that are originals and one that is a converted jazz classic.  Harper pulled together a few legends - Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and John Primer (Muddy Waters’ bandmates) and Bob Stroger (Otis Rush’s bassist), and grabbed some of the best young traditional blues talent around, to record the CD.  According to the liner notes his aim was to produce a traditional Chicago Blues album.  However, what resulted was a blues lovefest as the musicians sat in a circle and played and recorded.  Many of the tracks are supposedly first takes.  As a consequence they contain that instrumental improvisation and freshness lacking in so many other modern traditional blues albums.

Harper is no slouch on the mouth organ.  He started sucking wind when he was 12 years old and, over the years, has learned from some of the best.  He has a tone, tempo and technique suited to the traditional Chicago Blues genre.  With vocal help from modern day blues players as varied as Jimmy Burns of the Jimmy Burns Band, Tail Dragger and Kenny “Beady Eyes” Smith (Willie “Big Eyes” Smith’s son), and from legends Smith and Primer, Harper invigorates the old material and also provides soulful renditions of his own songs.

It is a special treat to listen to Harper’s mournful harp wail on the song “I Smell Trouble” as it perfectly accompanies a heart-rendering vocal performance by Jimmy Burns. Heavy blues guitar is embellished by Harper’s warble on Muddy Water’s classic “Long Distance Call.”  Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Eyesight To The Blind” is given a blues swing treatment in which each performer gets to shine.  Sleepy John Estes’ “Worried Life Blues,” which has probably been performed by every blues player from B.B. King to Eric Clapton to Kenny Wayne Shepherd, is given a down and dirty slow drudge cadence that actually sounds like the band is worried.  The sole “non-blues” song on the album, an instrumental version of Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” crosses out of the big band jazz genre and grabs the feeling that the blues get when greats such as Pinetop Perkins tickle the ivories.

There is much, much, more on this album and it is all worth a long listen.     While the album does not break new ground, it is a strong effort that contains stellar recordings of many well-known Chicago Blues numbers by some of the original blues masters and their attentive modern day students and progeny.  The trading of harp leads by Harper and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith on Smith’s “Born In Arkansas,” by itself is worth the price of admission.

This is not a mundane faithful reproduction.  It is unexpected and full of feeling.  Keep blowin’ Swississippi.  Keep blowin’.

- Old School

Buy here: Four Aces & A Harp

Crushed By the Wheels of Industry - Featuring Front Line Assembly and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult and Front Line Assembly

Around the Ripple office, Mrs Racer and I don’t often agree on music.  A dance music fan, she’s one to lose herself in the repetitive, synthesized trance music that she loves but to me is just an annoyance that makes me to want to drive pencils through my eardrums.

Let’s face it, I’m a rocker, not a clubber.  But, that don’t mean I don’t like to dance.  Heck, I can boogie just as good as the blue wind-up robot on my desk.  I just need something with some meat to it.  Some drive, some crunch and muscle.  And for that perfect combination of metal and maven, we have industrial.

Industrial fills that middle ground between me and the Mrs.  A place where we can both feel the groove and embarrass ourselves in front of our kid.  And with two industrial legends releasing new albums simultaneously, I thought now would be the perfect time to fire up our dangling crystal ball, hit the strobe lights and party at Ripple north.

Front Line Assembly – Improvised. Electronic. Device

One band that clearly falls into the category of “legendary” in industrial circles, is Front Line Assembly.  Cranking out mind-boggling juggernauts of dance mayhem since the late ‘80’s, Improvised. Electronic. Device is just as explosive as the name hints.  Roaring on like a super-charged Rammstein-megalith,FLA comes out of the smoke and haze with all guitars crunching and lays waste to all imitators in their path.  FLA’s not getting older, they’re totally hyper-fueled.

“I.E.D.”” chugs along with a metallic, sonic fury that could easily be the blueprint for what Industrial Metal is supposed to sound be.  “Release” is a guitar-heavy, cranium-shattering, darkwave assault of dancefloor theatrics.  “Pressure Wave,” is about as feverishly punk as Industrial gets.  But these killer cuts don’t mean FLA has totally embraced metal.   “Shifting through the Lens,” is a synth-mad, pulsating rave, while “Hostage,” is a hyper club killer.

But one thing that FLA does so well is nuance.  Bring in the ambient tones of the opening to “Angriff.”  Bring in some bubbling bass, throbbing in a pre-sex rant.  Let the tension build, the foreplay heat up, the sweat begin.  Then finally layer in those massive, chugging guitars, crunching and pulverizing all subtlety.  Vocals are dark and heavy, as ominous as a dance club for the Cylons.  This is metal.  Strob-light inducing, XTC ingesting metal. 

Despite the mechanized nature of everything, the synths, programmed beats, effect-layered guitars, FLA manages to keep a warm human heart front and center throughout.  Some industrial music is so dissonant, so cyborg-ly robotic that it’s off putting.  Not here.  Warm tones keep me drawn in.  Breathy vocals remind us of the humanity behind this mechanized monster. 

Nothing to fear here.  FLA is back. And the world makes sense once again.


Buy here: Improvised. Electronic. Device.
mp3: Improvised.Electronic.Device. (Deluxe)
 

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult – Sinister Whisperz – Volume One: The “Wax Trax” Years (1987-1991)

And in the other corner of legendary Industrial bands, we got My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult.  As the first in a series of retrospective compilations, The “Wax Trax” Years finds the dance legends revisiting their early industrial roots and breathing new life into the cuts with fresh remixes and sparkle.

And when it comes to industrial dance, few did it as well as the Thrill Kill Kult.  Here we get some energized remixes of some classics like “And this is What the Devil Does,” “Burning Dirt,” “A Daisy Chain for Satan,” and “The Days of Swine and Roses.”

Ugly, brutal, lurid, and totally intoxicating.   Plug this one in.  Prepare thy ass to boogie.

Buy here: Sinister Whisperz Wax Trax Years (1987-1991) Limited Box

www.mylifewiththethrillkillkult.com

Ripple News - Ex-Brian Jonetown Massacre's new band, Sky Parade, Soars Up the KEXP Charts

KEXP Top 20 song, “I Should be Coming Up (But I Keep Coming Down) by Sky Parade featured with Grand Atlantic on this split 7” of psychedelic pop perfection.
                                      
Just in time for their World tour in support of their Top 20 KEXP song, the heady, trance-inducing psychedelic pop of Sky Parade is on full display with their highly infectious tune, “I Should Be Coming Up (But I Keep Coming Down)”.  Produced by the Dandy Warhol’s Courtney Taylor and released in hot anticipation of their upcoming World Tour, "I Should Be Coming Up (But I Keep Coming Down)" has been lighting up the switchboard where the single has already climbed to number 20 on the KEXP Radio Chart and the Top 10 on KKBB.  

Check out the video and hear the song that’s tearing up the LA clubs right now.




The split single will be available world-wide from the bands on tour and through www.ripple-music.com



"A joyride of dense, churning guitars that sounds like Primal Scream getting Spiritualized!" – L.A. Times

"Sky Parade have found Psych-rock's sweet spot" -- Buzz Bands LA

"Hook-laden genius" -- 90.3 FM

"KKBB Top 10 single!" -- KKBB

"Quite simply, this is a prime slice of psychedelic pop that you can dance to." Terrascope UK