"Big night out" it is as the Milestone Corp. goes through the motions of being clones of the Deadly Snakes, the awesome Toronto blues-rock band. I am not saying that the Snakes have the exclusive rights to this sound, but the fact that they rock about twice as much as anything that is on this record has me wondering if the Milestone Corporation's songwriting is up to par. Some of this stuff is actually pretty good, but nothing close to what they would need to keep me interested. It's also pretty badly mixed and a little reverb on those vocals would take the edge off. Better luck next time.
- Simon Thibaudeau
Monoton, for all intent and purposes, should not have finished "Greenwood". The band lost their singer, Morten Havn, following complication after a surgery, right after almost finishing an Albini-produced sophomore album. After rebuilding themselves and the band, they reconvened with Søren Vibjerg to finish that damned sophomore album. The results are good, if not very good. Their brand of slow, heavy and country rock reminds oneself of some of Nick Cave's output or Johnny Cash's American recording series in which the legend managed to create the heaviest material of his career by stripping things down to its bare essentials. Monoton use a similar technique by relying in elongated chords, ringing bass notes and 3 note leads to create some very interesting music. The only problem I have is Vibjerg who tries way too hard to be dark and uses a deeper voice than he is able to. His voice sound way too forced for this to work properly. You can imagine Till Lindemann of Rammstein doing this perfectly, but Vibjerg is just unable to achieve it. Still, pretty enjoyable.
- Simon Thibaudeau
For the stupid two language dude that I am, there is something inherently charming about a women singing in a Nordic tongue, must be Björk-envy. In any case, Under Byen singer Henriette Sennenvaldt sings in this dreamy whispery voice that is simply incredibly sexy, yet triste. The music underneath is post-rock in a similar fashion to Do Make Say Think, but with a more noisy aspect of raw percussion and field recordings. Under Byen also uses a lot of minimal arrangements to create a thin curtain behind Sennenvaldt, only to explode a few minutes later in an intense fury. Instrumentation is all over the place and adds to the overall brilliance. I have heard plenty of post-rock in the last few years, but this is amongst the best.
- Simon Thibaudeau
After a couple of EPs , it was time for singer-songwriter Vijaya to spread her wings and show what she is able to do on a full-length. The result is an intimate album with minimal, but brilliant instrumentation that is only enhancing her beautiful voice. The palette of emotion is displayed is limited, going from the melancholic to the slightly annoyed. When on her melancholic game, she just creates some amazing melodies and textures, with just her voice and electric guitar. Mostly simply electronics and keyboards are sprinkled throughout the record, as well as reeds, harmonica and a few more, as simple as the arrangements are, they are completely amazing. I really like this, in more ways that I thought I would. This is intelligent, well crafted singer/songwriter music.
- Simon Thibaudeau
I absolutely love The Tiny's first album "Closer". Vocalist Ellekari's childlike voice and the group's intimate chamber-pop arrangements aren't just befitting to their name, they are beautiful and touching. Seeing them perform at Umeå Open was even better as their copious charms spilled freely from the stage into the audience. It's no wonder then that I was tremendously excited to hear their follow-up record "Starring; someone like you", but I'm sorry to say that my excitement faded quickly once I actually heard it. It's not that the record is bad (it's not), but this new recording has destroyed so much of what made The Tiny special. Layers of unnecessary instrumentation. Extraneous sound effects. Over-baked. What happened to The Tiny that I used to love? I used to feel a close kinship with you, but now you're pushing me away. The band I once knew is still there - I know because I can still hear it on songs like the one I've posted today, but our relationship has changed. Maybe we just need some time apart, but I tell you what: I'll be here waiting for you when you decide to come back.
The Tiny - Kind of like you
We close out our demo week, not with yet another new track from an undiscovered band, but instead with a repost of a track from Circle Six. Two reasons: 1) I am a lazy, lazy man and 2) I've been listening to these guy's four-song demo waaaay more than most of the new CDs I've received in the last six months. As I said the first time I posted this, Circle Six plays slow, crushing doom. We're talking glacier slow and face-melting heavy. I know there's a bazillion other bands doing the same kind of stuff right now, but I kid you not - this is some of the very best I've heard. Few can reach this level of intensity. It's the perfect soundtrack for Good Friday, doncha think?
I know it's late Friday for all you Europeans out there, but I've just posted the first entry in our artist profile series with a spotlight on Swedish artist Kristoffer Ragnstam as well as a brand new podcast, my first in months! Enjoy!
Swedish lo-fi CDR label Bedroom Records has released a new, extremely limited single from Otur and Johnny called "Additional love": http://www.bedroomrec.com/bands/releases/additionallove.htm
After playing The Great Escape Festival in London (the English attempt to emulate SXSW), Finland's Disco Ensemble will do a short UK tour of the Barflys alongside 65 Days Of Static and The Morning After Girls. Dates:
05/18 - The Great Escape, Brighton
05/20 - The Great Escape, Brighton
05/21 - Barfly, Liverpool
05/22 - Barfly, Glasgow
05/23 - Barfly, York
05/24 - Barfly, Cardiff
05/25 - Barfly, London
Sambassadeur has posted a couple tracks from their upcoming EP "Coastal affairs" for preview on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sambassadeurtheband
Stylus reviews Danish post-rock act The Seven Mile Journey: http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=3959
PopMatters reviews the solo debut of Norwegian jazz drummer Thomas Stronen: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/thomas_stronen_pohlitz/
Sounds very interesting - looks like I'll have to track down a copy of this for myself.
Candlelight is streaming a brand new Enslaved track on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/candlelightrecordsusa
Monoton