Give It A Name: Incoming (Live Review: Dan)

This is the second year running that I have attended Give It A Name. This year however, the festival has moved to a substantially smaller venue (Earls Court to Brixton Academy) and has a lower standard in bands. This wasn't too much of a problem for me though, as the top two acts on the bill are my two favourite live bands.
Going to this year's event was a very spontaneous decision - I purchased a ticket for Matt and myself on the morning of the festival. So we headed up to Brixton Academy to enjoy an evening of music. This was not what we received. The first band, In This Moment, were an unusual metal band. All of the members looked how you would expect from your average, small-time metal band; One big man with dreadlocks and all the others with their black tank tops or jackets. Until the singer walked onstage. She was dressed in a hideous yellow dress and looked like she had walked straight off of the set of Alice in Wonderland. Still, she had certainly caught my attention. Then she started making a noise. Possibly the most disgusting noise I've ever heard live before, her screamed vocals sounded like more a shriek or a wail and I was starting to wonder what I had gotten myself into. Still, eventually it was all over and I could finally relax again. I'm not convinced anyone in the building enjoyed them.

Next up was Lights, and having done some research I am now aware that Valerie Poxleitner is the only member and the other people onstage were just touring members. I can now forgive her for saying "This is my last song". So, moving on. As a vocalist she was quite talented, and ticked all the right boxes for what she was trying to achieve. Well, most of them. The music was quite pleasant too. But what she failed to do was excite. Matt and I were sat upstairs to watch Lights, and I don't regret this. She was very calming though, I could probably listen to her music all day. It just wasn't what I had gone out for. I'd gone out for some exciting, jumpy music but Lights couldn't provide me with that. Still, I'll certainly be giving her album(s) a listen. So well done Valerie.

Then we had Emery to look forward to. And I sort of was. Having listened to one song of theirs when this year's lineup was announced I had placed them in the same group as Post-Hardcore acts such as Chiodos (A personal favourite). They didn't really fail to disappoint in this aspect - they were a post-hardcore band. Thing is, they just sounded like they were trying to copy all the rest. This is why I'm starting to tire of the genre - there's precious little diversity in the genre. All the bands want to sound like each other, which is fair enough because it works well enough and has a fairly sizeable fanbase. It's just a scene that I'm not really as into as I once was. And whilst the music was listenable (there was nothing I wasn't enjoying) I found something to hate on the stage: The man standing at the very front in the above image, known (apparently) as Robot Ross. Robot Ross was just about the worst member of any band I've ever seen. He was dressed in a pink/purple waistcoat and Matt and I had both noticed that after two full songs he hadn't actually played any instrument, or sung. Instead, he insisted on prancing around the stage trying to fuck every instrument. He literally crept across the stage, he moved lightly and tiptoed all over the place. He was an absolute monstrosity on the eye. Still, he did know how to get the crowd going. Albeit a crowd of fourteen year old girls. About a third of the way through their set Emery did some sort of swap. The vocalist at the time swapped roles with the Bass player of the time and Robot Ross started to do something. The new vocalist was a real improvement, however I was disappointed that they announced that the material played in this formation was "old". Robot Ross did a bit of screaming and it worked quite well with the music and the second half of their set was actually quite decent. Especially the last song, which was brilliant. Matt told me that Robot Ross did a somersault into the crowd. I didn't see this, but would have expected it really.

The King Blues. I've never listened to them, but I've read positive things about them and Kerrang always tell people to listen to them. Still, where has that ever gotten anyone? Just look at that picture of them. You knew this little review section was going to be bad already, right? Right.
Whilst the stage was being set up for them we had noticed 4 different miniature instruments being placed on the stage; Drums, Microphone stand, Guitar and...Something that I have now forgotten. We became quite excited about the prospect of a dwarf in the band.
No such luck. Instead, we were treated to six absolutely awful musicians. The singer was some cockney speaking prick who made this strange noise that somewhere between rapping and singing and seemed quite opinionated. The singer said "On 3 I want you all to shout 'Fuck the BNP'!" He didn't give us a reason though... He did this a lot. He told us all that "the government are bastards/wankers/cunts" but never once said why. And above all of this, their music was shit. They played ridiculous Early Learning Centre instruments and were generally a terrible band. Nothing was to be gained from this half an hour.

So. The Academy Is....Ben told me that they were good. Ben lied. The Academy Is... were the gayest band I've ever seen and heard. The singer limped around the stage asif all he was really doing was looking for a massive cock. He failed to notice that all of the men around him could provide with this. Their music was a perfect representation of the image and I was stood right in the middle of an enormous gay outing. I'm not being homophobic in any way, it just wasn't something I wanted to experience that night. It was to my horror, then, when I found myself in the middle of a mosh pit. A mosh pit, of all things, seemed like the least necessary thing possible at this moment in my life. To swiftly conclude: I hated this band.

The Blackout. It was now when my night really started. Time after time after time, The Blackout have never ceased to impress me. They are full of energy and their music is catchy and aggressive when it needs to be. They are a cool group of people and can accept that everyone loves Sean Smith (the gay one with white hair) probably more than they do the band. They have a new album out in May so we were treated to a nice number of new tracks, and I think they all sounded really good. The crowd was also sensational for this band, and proved to be essential in turning my night around. I also noticed that all of the fourteen year olds had disappeared and I managed to share the set with the kind of people who I would have wanted to. They played most of the best songs from their debut album 'We Are The Dynamite!' and even a bit from the EP - Theblackout!theblackout!theblackout!. Which is good. Perhaps one day I'll put some of their stuff in the swap so we can all relish in their fantastic ability. Otherwise we shall wait until May 25 and New Release Sunday can have a bit of The Blackout treatment. It's a damn good treatment. I would advise absolutely anyone to go and see them on their tour in May.

The moment everyone had been waiting for (and what a long wait it was): Enter Shikari. They came onto the stage with their new intro, which is very good, and the crowd was full of energy. I've seen Enter Shikari a fair few times now, and I'm still not really bored yet. I'd still not pass up an opportunity to go and see them. Besides, I hadn't seen them in a venue anywhere near the size of Brixton Academy. It probably wasn't as good as the small, intimate venues such as Camden Underworld though, which I feel they are more suited to. Which is a bit rubbish for them, as 'Enter Shikari: Live at Wembley' is something that should never happen.
This was also the first time they have ever played their new single 'Juggernauts' live. I've been having mixed feelings about this song. It's an entirely different sound for the band, and one that I'm not sure I like. However, it was great fun live and it helped me to decide that I, in fact, do like it.
Their performance wasn't without their usual mistakes (which I'm starting to believe they must be doing on purpose). This time Roughton messed up his synthesiser and deleted the set list off of it. I'm not complaining about this though, and neither are they. Everyone laughs about it, and the set goes on naturally. They pause regularly to chat about the G20 protests and Cheerios and it's all part of the fun. Everyone has a great time, and everyone goes home drenched in their own sweat - the sign of a good night out.

Some summarizing numbers:
In This Moment: 0/5
Lights: 3/5
Emery: 2.5/5
The King Blues: 0/5
The Academy Is...: 1/5
The Blackout: 5/5
Enter Shikari: 5/5
Give It A Name: Incoming 2009: 3/5

Hope you enjoyed the long read.
Dan.

Biffy Clyro - Puzzle (Review: MattJ)

Where's the change font button gone? Oh well... I'd never in my life heard a Biffy Clyro song before this, I just had never bothered with them and I don't really know why. I didn't know what to expect from there, apart from something guitar based which is what I got. I think that this band have managed to find a unique sound that will interest a great number of people but it is not so different that it will turn people away, in fact I can see why so many people love Biffy Clyro - this is a very nice achievement.

I really liked the riff of Living is a Problem... and the song is a really good straight rock track with a different edge, and this is how I found the rest of the album to go. This edge I feel is provided by the vocals which are nothing ground breaking but complement the music in a strange way that I can't quite pin down. Like Alex said Biffy don't try to do too much, they are just playing what they want to play and it worked out nicely for them. Too many popular bands are trying to do too much and trying to be bands like Muse, Radiohead, Joy Division and even The Beatles. In fact bands have been trying to be the Beatles since they first came about but that's a different story. Anyway it was a somewhat breath of fresh air with Biffy Clyro.

One thing I did notice was that their songs had a similar structure and after Who's Got a Match? - which I really didn't like the lyrics of by the way - I was begging for something different. I was glad then when the slower As Dust Dances came on. As Dust Dances is good for what it is a bit of a more melodic personal song with a big old uproar towards the end where things got a bit louder. I don't tend to go for these types of songs unless they are really good but this is one of the only (for want of a better word) power ballad that I thought "Yeah, this is alright..."

I think that the middle of the album takes a turn for the worse. A Whole Child Ago and Now I'm Everywhere both really annoyed me, mostly because the way the vocalist is singing. Also a lot of the tracks follow the same formula as earlier tracks which bored be somewhat. Overall though this is a good album but I think it contains quite a bit of filler. Biffy have come up with something that has both uniqueness and mass appeal and for this I award them 3/5

Biffy Clyro - Puzzle (Review: Alex)

I listened to this album when it first came out, albeit briefly. I remembered liking it, but couldn't recall a single song from it. Having listened to it again, I can't remember why I didn't give it the recognition it deserves last time around.

I like this album for a number of reasons. First of all, there is an incredible depth to Biffy Clyro's sound. I have no idea how they do it; it could be down to some ridiculously high gauge guitar strings, or simply to some fantastic production. Either way, this album sounds like every note is resonating around my head long after it's been played. I'm not sure if I'm making any sense, but I can hear it most on 'Living Is a Problem...'. It makes the music sound artificially dark, and reminds me a lot of Led Zeppelin songs like 'Immigrant Song' and 'Moby Dick'. If this is a sound they can replicate live, then I would very much like to see them.

Another reason why I like this album is because I can't possibly place it into a genre. It's almost like a heavy sort of indie music. 'A Whole Child Ago' for example, has a very indie sort of riff, but is a quite heavy, quite dark song (as is the whole album, for that matter). Puzzle makes me wonder what ever happened to pure rock music. Every sort of music seems to be thrown into many millions of sub-genres (like when Roshan told me off for calling his album for this week 'classical'). It's nice to hear a band which doesn't fit into any preconcieved genre. It makes me think that they didn't set out to do anything, and landed upon their sound almost by accident.

Because there is so much I do like about this album, I find myself focussing on petty little things which I don't like. A lot of the time I just feel like they're putting things in, simply for the sake of being artistic. When, at the end of 'Saturday Superhouse' they slide out of key, I never fail to get very annoyed. I can't understand why they do it. It's almost as if they're trying to ruin the song. It's worse every time I listen to it aswell, simply because I'm expecting it. It's a shame, because it's a truly fantastic song. Similarly I can't see a need for the really long intro to 'Living is a Problem...', not because it's long, but because it lacks any sort of time signature or structure. At one point everything stops, and the drummer just hits the ride cymbal. Forgive me, but when I was in a band at the age of about 14, that's exactly the sort of thing I would have been doing. It's an unnecessary device, and doesn't make the band seem any better, or any cleverer than they are.

But like I said, this is all very petty indeed. I really like this album, and don't hesitate to give it a 4/5.

Fightstar - One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours (Review:Elliott)

I've been told to give Fightstar a listen on numerous occassions. The first song of theirs I actually bothered to listen to was "Palahniuk's Laughter". Bearing in mind this was almost 3 years ago, I was pretty unimpressed. Given that my musical tastes have changed drastically since that first time, I thought it only fair to give them another listen after seeing this album uploaded by Dan.

The album gets off to a mediocre start with "99" although admittedly there was something about Charlie's voice that I quite liked. "We Apologise For Nothing" is one of the more commercial songs on the album - hence it's release as one of the singles. It's rather annoying that the song is the second song on the album as it gives Dan example with which he can say "every second track on an album is released as a single".

When I was in Belgium a week ago, I had my iPod on shuffle - something I very rarely do - and I heard the opening to "Floods". I thought to myself "ah I quite like this Muse song". I'm not sure whether I was disappointed or pleasantly surprised to find out that it was actually Fightstar. Having listened to it again, it annoys me greatly as I feel that they've attempted to copy Muse. I used to be a fan of Muse but grew out of their music when introduced to bands like Radiohead, therefore I don't really enjoy the piano in "Floods" although the rest of the song is equally as average.

About halfway through "One Day Son", I hear the same Muse influence resurfacing, however, on the whole I quite enjoyed this song. The birds made the screams at the beginning of "Deathcar" catch me off guard. Very clever Fightstar. "Deathcar" gets off to such a good start and in comparison to the rest of the album, it's a lot heavier. Disappointingly, the anger and energy is lost when Charlie sporadically reverts back to singing. I would much rather the majority of the album took this angrier approach but I'm not sure it would do Charlie's pleasant singing voice any good.

Although I feel like I should enjoy "I am the message", I really don't. The lyrics on "You & I" are ridiculous: "It feels as black as the thoughts I had/When the road was as dark as my fears". Having listened to their latest single "Mercury Summer", I really can't take these lyrics seriously. The introduction to "Amaze Us" seems heavily Rage Against The Machine influenced but from then on, the song becomes boring. The rest of the album follows suit in that it does nothing to entertain me.

After only 5 minutes of listening to it, I really can't remember anything about this album that I actually enjoy. Charlie's voice is good in parts and the music is average but I just don't think there is anything about this album that really catches my attention and makes me want to hear more. I think the problem with this album is that the band have attempted to use their inspirations to force an album. It feels like Fightstar don't really have a sound and are just attempting to recreate music that they are influenced by. They don't know whether they want to be a metal band or a pop/rock band. I sincerely suggest that they look into becoming a tribute band -after deciding which band they want to copy - because the confusion in this album is insane. Either that, or they could spend a bit more time establishing their own style and stick with it - which, when it does appear on the album is below average. Is it any wonder that they attempt to reel listeners in by copying introductions of other bands?

2/5

Biffy Clyro - Puzzle

"Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies" – 5:18
"Saturday Superhouse" – 3:19
"Who's Got A Match?" – 2:23
"As Dust Dances" – 4:34
"2/15ths" - 1:02
"A Whole Child Ago" – 3:07
"The Conversation Is..." – 3:40
"Now I'm Everyone" – 3:50
"Semi-Mental" – 3:22
"4/15ths" – 0:45
"Love Has A Diameter" – 3:53
"Get Fucked Stud" – 3:37
"Folding Stars" – 4:15
"9/15ths" – 2:46
"Machines" – 3:56

Firstly, apologies for the shockingly late upload, I promise to be more committed to my Album Swap responsibilities in future weeks. This week I've gone with Biffy's fourth studio album which thrust them so abruptly into the limelight. I'd not heard any of their stuff and bought the album on the basis of good reviews and having never heard a song of theirs. To this day it remains one of the best albums I've ever heard and whilst a few of you may have heard it, I put this up with my reviewers (Alex, Matt) in mind. The term genius is used far too loosely in all walks of life but I genuinely feel that this record is nothing short of exactly that. It is too hard to name any personal favourites, I love the whole album but for new listeners I'd recommend Living Is a Problem....., Saturday Superhouse, Who's Got a Match and Folding Stars.

Fightstar - One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours (Review: MattJ)

Like Roshan I was pretty sceptical about Fightstar seeing as its Charlie-from-Busted's band - something I'm sure they will never escape from. Post-Hardcore has never been a genre I've really enjoyed, it's all samey in my eyes and I was happy with Hardcore before it became Post-Hardcore, I never thought they should try to do anything more with it but that's just how music works I suppose.

Well it started out how I expected it to start, One Day Son has an alright riff with some alright vocals to suit the alright production. I don't hate it, well I do hate it but I don't hate it because I hate the music I hate it because I think everything about it is just average. It's not exciting me enough. The second song has a bit more of an up beat tone to it, and the fact that I noticed it is a good thing, so this song is a little bit more alright than the first one. Despite the more upbeat sounding riff the song follows the same structure as the last song which I found annoying, and a little bit insulting I might add.

Another thing about this band, I don't really think that Charlie is really a particularly good singer, I mean his average voice suits many of their average bog standard post-hardcore songs but on One Last Common Ancestor they do a bit more of a mellow song and Charlie sounds terrible on it, the same goes for the song 99. This is quite the opposite to his shouting on Deathcar which I think was very good, I'd like to see Mr. Simpson in a death metal in the near future. I wouldn't really.

Anyway Deathcar is quite a good song indeed and I would liked to have seen some more agressive stuff on the album really. I don't think it would be fair to give this album a really low score because its not that bad, its just not anything new. I really do dislike this but its not for the actual music, its, again, because of the averageness of the whole thing. Therefore I'm going to give them 2.25/5

As an aside I'm in a bit of a bad mood, I hope it didn't show in the reivew....

Fightstar - One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours (Review: Roshan)

I never thought I’d ever end up listening to something “Busted” related and liking it. Busted was a manufactured band whose sole purpose was to create generic, Fan-girl crazy, crap, awful songs that should never be taken seriously by anyone over the age of 10. From this horrific concoction came another equally cringe band, McFly. Even though Fightstar was formed before Busted, the fact that at least one band member didn’t think creating shit music and making a tonne of money out of 12 year-old girls was a shameful, soul degrading-surely-to-be-sent-to-some-hellish-place-when-he-dies thing to do, it makes me feel a sort of…hate for the band before even listening to it.

Thankfully, post-hardcore is pretty far away from all that pop stuff. So the distance between the two bands is large enough for me to consider giving it a chance. First off, production is very good and pretty clear and it’s good to know all the money Charlie made didn’t go completely to waste. However I feel there is something astray when it comes to the guitar, it sounds overblown and a bit bloated.

The sound of the album is pretty consistent throughout, post-hardcore and it sticks to its guns. Piano sequences make appearances throughout. Particularly in “Floods” which has the undeniable smell of “Muse” about its intro. The first few tracks did annoy me slightly in that they almost strained themselves to sound catchy, this is entirely down to Charlie’s singing, which I hate to say, is very good. It ranges from a “Matt Bellamy” winey teenager to aggressive hardcore shouts as heard in “Deathcar”. The latter tracks I felt had a more natural flow to them, as they didn’t have the pressure to be decent selling singles.

One of the most prominent thoughts in my mind was how much this sounds like other bands, a lot of the sound is borrowed from bands such as “Deftones”, “Rage Against the Machine” and the riff near the end of “Amaze Us” is very similar to “Machine Head’s” “Old”. It’s rife with influence and I’m not sure whether it’s a bad thing or not. My highlight has to be “Tannhäuser Gate” in some ways it doesn’t sound like it belongs on the album purely because it stands on its own without any obvious influence from another band.

The album doesn’t standout too much and there are no little details for me to relish in, whilst not lazy in its execution it is still a little unloved. Its Obvious this is a voice and heavy-handed guitar driven album and however borrowed this album sounds it’s still a solid album that I would recommend to any post-hardcore or even rock fans.

My Highlights: Flood / Deathcar / Tannhäuser Gate

Score: 3/5

New Way of Doing Things

In order to prevent clutter and to make sure everyone can get their reviews in on time we're going to be changing the process of the site a little bit. Instead of having Alex, Ben, Dan and I review everything thats put up we each have to do two reviews each. They are going to be selected at random, using random.org, to keep it fair and seeing as we haven't got any reviews up for this week so far we're going to be starting this now. Reviewer's rules still apply in the same way, you can review what ever you want. This week Roshan will be included because he submitted an album

So this week we've got

1. The Smiths - Ben, Roshan
   
2. Fightstar - Roshan, Matt
   
3. Ben's album - Matt, Alex
   
4. Cunninlynguists - Dan, Ben
   
5. Jonny Greenwood - Alex, Dan

Opinions on this method? This is subject to change if people aren't happy.

The Smiths - Meat Is Murder (1985)

I adore The Smiths. They were the perfect contrast to much of the manufactured stuff that came out of the 1980s. Morrissey and Johnny Marr convey a beautiful irony throughout all their music, with Morrissey's unbelievably depressing lyrics contrasting Marr's often up-beat guitar lines. However, I'm not overly sure how this will go down. As much as I love it, I appreciate that many of you could easily hate it. But anyway, I think we should all be exposed to The Smiths at some point in our lives.

Track listing:
1. The Headmaster Ritual
2. Rusholme Ruffians
3. I Want the One I Can't Have
4. What She Said
5. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
6. How Soon Is Now?
7. Nowhere Fast
8. Well I Wonder
9. Barbarism Begins at Home
10. Meat Is Murder

Skindred - Babylon (Review: Alex)

I'm stuck with this one. I've listened to the album a few times and I'm still not sure if I like it. Initially I thought it was quite clever. I read Roshan's review before listening to the album, and couldn't see how anyone could ever mix reggae with metal. But on listening to the album, I could hear the two genres suprisingliy clearly. On tracks such as 'Selector' I could hear distinct aspects of post-Bob Marley reggae. It was odd, to say the least, and I actually quite liked it.

There were a couple of tracks that I especially liked. 'Pressure' is a good song, and certainly the most catchy on the album. However, it is the song with the least amount of fusion between genres. This led me to think that the times when I liked the album were the times when the band wasn't trying to mess around with genres. Indeed, 'The Fear' is the least metal song on the album, and again, one of my favourites (it also sounds ridiculously like 'London Calling' by The Clash ('the rude boys are coming' onwards by comparison to 'The ice age is coming' onwards.), I'm not sure if they knew this...).

After a while, I began to find the vocals slightly annoying. The album began to sound like a collection of incoherent drivvle. A lot of the time it just sounded like a fight between metal and reggae, and I wanted it to decide what it wanted to be.

Like I said, I'm confused by this abum. I think I like it, but at the same time it annoyed me. I will therefore have to strike a happy medium at 2.5/5 (don't judge the 2 sig figs)

Cunninlynguists - Strange Journey Volume 1 (2009)

This Cunninlynguists mixtape came out a couple of weeks ago and I was so surprised at how good it is. The production is some of the best I've ever heard while the lyrics aren't amazing compared to other CL releases like A Piece of Strange they are still much better than the type of hip-hop you'd find on the music channels and radio. The album is loosely based on the band touring around America and the different things they come across along the way - homesickness, meeting new people, wacky experience (hence the album's name) and trouble from police. This mixtape features two tracks from other artists not in the band (as hip-hop artists often do), The Distance by Tonedeff and Die for you by Mr. SOS.
Enjoy.

1. Departure (intro)
2. Nothing But Strangeness (feat. Looptroop Rockers & Hilltop Hoods)
3. Lynguistics
4. Move
5. Spark my Soul (feat. Substantial)
6. Never Come Down (the Brownie Song)
7. Hypnotized (feat. PackFM & Club Dub)
8. Dance for Me (remix)
9. Die for You by Mr. SOS
10. White Guy Mind Tricks
11. KKKY (remix) (feat. Skinny DeVille, Fishscales, Young Chu & Sheisty Khrist)
12. Georgia (remix) (feat. Killer Mike & Khujo Goodie)
13. Dont Leave (When Winter Comes) (feat. Slug)
14. The Distance by Tonedeff [doobedoobedoo]
15. Broken Van (Thinking of You) (feat. Mac Lethal)
16. Billy Joes Garage (to be Continued)

http://rapidshare.com/files/220805262/Strange_Journey_Volume_1.rar.html

Fightstar - One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours (2007)

One Day Son This Will All Be Yours is the second full length album from Fightstar.
I have posted this to coincide with the release of the new album Be Human which will be available from next Monday.

I also want to try and eliminate the problem that Fightstar have, which is that many people do not listen to them because it's "Charlie from Busted's new band".
First off, it's not. Fightstar were around at the same time as Busted, he left Busted to persue his career in Fightstar. And second of all, they are in no way similar and I think that Fightstar are a group of very talented people who have to put up with a lot of negative comments and don't have the fanbase that they certainly deserve.

This album is one of my all time favourites. It was an impulse purchase on Alex Platt's 17th birthday and since that day has remained one of my best albums.

Track Listing:
[1]99
[2]We Apologize for Nothing
[3]Floods
[4]One Day Son
[5]Deathcar
[6]I Am The Message
[7]You & I
[8]Amaze Us
[9]H.I.P (Enough)
[10]Tannhauser Gate
[11]Our Last Common Ancestor
[12]Unfamiliar Ceilings

Jonny Greenwood - There Will Be Blood (2007)

Although this is a film soundtrack, composed by the talented Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, I am positive it stands on its own as a engaging, if depressing piece of music. I have a feeling Dan will hate it, a little out of his comfort zone maybe. But this is one of my top albums and would not hesitate to give it a 5/5

Track listing:

1. Open Spaces
2. Future markets
3. Prospectors Arrive
4. Eat Him By His Own Light
5. Henry Plainview
6. There Will Be Blood
7. Oil
8. Proven Lands
9. HW/Hope Of New Fields
10. Smear

>Download<

New Release Sunday: Crack The Skye (Review: Dan)

I wanted to get this review posted before Monday so that I will be completely prepared for the next wave of albums. I've never listened to Mastodon before and I thought that their upcoming appearance in my village would be a good reason to get listening. And then they released a new album. So New Release Sunday had to provide Mastodon.

I've always expected Mastodon to sound like Atreyu. Again, not really sure where this has come from...I just think I associated the two. However, I shan't be doing that again.

I'm now going to make a very unusual statement. So apologies for this as once again I can't back it up.
The singer from Mastodon sounds like how I would imagine a wizard to sing. For any Lord Of The Rings fans, listen to Mastodon and then pretend that Saruman (and I don't mean Christopher Lee) is the singer. It definitely fits. Even the music sounds fitting to this sort of mystical, mysterious theme.

I quite like it though. The music that is. I despise Saruman's vocals. He should stick to casting spells while his wizardy friends make music. I also think that I should have been right about Mastodon sounding like Atreyu. I think if Alex Varkatzas, lead vocalist of Atreyu, were to replace the Mastodon singer they would be a much better band.

Anyway, I don't want to talk about this album anymore, or listen to it for that matter. Despite saying I liked the music, I thought the album as a whole was poor. It seemed to blend horribly, and I am 100% sure that the bonus disc of this album is only intrumentals because there are many people that hate the vocals.

I'm sure that Crack The Skye: Disc 2 is fantastic, but a band shouldn't have to do that.

1/5

Dan.

InMe - White Butterfly (Review: Dan)

I'm a big fan of InMe, I'm going to see them quite soon and am looking forward to it a lot. However, the only InMe I listen to is their latest album Daydream Anonymous. Despite the fact that I am in possession of their entire discography. For some reason I've never listened to it.

So, reluctantly (this is another album I've always claimed to hate) I started listening to this at work. It kicks off with 7 Weeks - a song which I really enjoyed. For some bizarre reason it reminded me of Enter Shikari though I can't place any musical similarities. Next up was So You Know. I think the vocals are really good on this song, but I have a feeling (I'm listening to it now and I still have this feeling) that there are no verses. I'm fairly certain it's just one chorus repeated throughout the song. Well, I suppose you could say there are no choruses and it is just one verse repeated throughout... If there are verses/choruses then they clearly aren't very good/noticable.

Otherside, I think, is a song that I know because the Pughs always put it on in the car. In this song Dave's vocals are mixed, from a strange, pretty rubbish whispering noise to some decent, yet nothing that I haven't heard before and some also pretty shit 'screaming'. A pretty average song.
Faster the Chase is another song is awful, in my opinion. It is ruined by the vocals, and the music is fairly basic.

You'll Get There has some more strange whispering (I hate whispering in music) but it also has some brilliant vocals. I'm starting to think that I am some sort of vocal-obsessed maniac. But this is what I like in most music, and this is probably because I've not grown up around music, I don't know how to play an instrument and just don't understand the technicalities behind it so I find it very difficult to judge musical ability. However, too much whispering ruins what could have been a good song. And his wierd screaming also spoils it.

I can't really be bothered to just sit here talking about every song on the album so I'll summarize now:
The album has a variety of strengths and weaknesses; the vocals fall under both of these categories - sometimes reaching great heights in both fields. The music can be quite calming and soothing and it can also be fast paced and exciting. At other times it gets boring, a sort of deja vu feeling occurs and I just think that I'm wasting my time when I could just be listening to Daydream Anonymous, which has everything I want and like from the band.

I'm finding it hard to score the album. I think that it has to be a 2.5/5 as it has some really good bits and some really bad bits. They balance each other out and it just sits right in the middle of the scales. Where it is going to gather dust.

Dan.

Radiohead - OK Computer (Review:Ben)

Having spent last week binging on In Rainbows from Radiohead, I was very happy to see OK Computer added for this week and anticipated another fantastic album from Radiohead. I've rather shamefully only just got in to them and so I was quite excited to hear this record. I love the simplicity in Thom Yorke's vocals and find that coupled with the complexity of the music it creates an incredibly enjoyable sound.


OK Computer gets off to exactly the start I had anticipated from my second Radiohead album. 'Airbag' has a 'more-of-the-same' kind of feel to it yet still branches off in a totally different direction to anything from In Rainbows. I'd attribute a lot of Radiohead's success to their ability to craft songs that all sound similar yet strikingly different. All too often a band find a sound that works and stick to it but Radiohead seem to be constantly looking for new and innovative ways to further advance their sound.


One of the main things I've found in my brief listening to Radiohead's back catalogue is that they are incredibly consistent. In the two albums I've heard I wouldn't be able to name one track which I felt was a 'filler' track and similarly I'd struggle to name too many stand-out tracks. I never want to listen to one track of theirs, for me it is the whole album or nothing. There is something so complete about their albums as a whole that just can't be captured in four minutes of sound.


Getting back to the content of OK Computer, I'd probably say 'Let Down' was the first track on the album that made me think "wow, this is a really incredible song". I'm not great with the technical side of music and so can't talk about different scales or tones but something about this song makes it instantly lovable. When I first heard some Radiohead, I expected it to take four maybe five listens of the album before I was completely into their sound but 'Let Down' dispells any of these preconceptions. Other real standout tracks include 'Paranoid Android', 'Karma Police' and 'Climbing Up The Walls' but I know that with every listen of this album I am going to get a different favourite.


I don't think I've actually mentioned how much I am enjoying this album. It is an incredible album and one of the best I've heard. I don't want to skip any tracks, I just want to listen to it all and absorb everything from it that I can. There is only one possible score I can to an album that is so consistent and creative throughout and so OK Computer easily scores a 5/5 from me and I can't wait to listen to more of their stuff.

Skindred - Babylon (Review: MattJ)

Right today I'm going to do something different, I was just planning on starting this review when I had a conversation with Roshan on MSN about this album, I feel that it included all of my opinions on the album and so I'm going to copy and paste it into here. I hope you all don't mind.

Matt says:
i dont think i've ever hated anything more

Roshan says:
?

Roshan says:
!

Matt says:
pdon?

Roshan says:
Serious

Matt says:
yes

Roshan says:
Loved it.

Matt says:
its mediocre

Matt says:
average rock/metal with stupid vocals

Roshan says:
In what way, have you ever heard such a fusion of sound before?

Matt says:
it sounds like its a gimic

Matt says:
it is a gimic

Roshan says:
no no no no... geniunily amazing combination of genres, with an awesome voice. I take it you don't listen to a great deal of reggae/ jamaican singers?

Matt says:
i dont but i do like reggae
the little of it i've heard
but the whole metal/rock side of it is rubbish

Roshan says:
Have you heard tarantular by Pendulum, they have like a Jamacian MC to drum and bass, pretty amazing.

Matt says:
not to mention the vocals just not working with this music

Matt says:
yeah thats good
it fits in perfectly with the music
this doesnt at all

Roshan says:
I felt it added an special kind of aggresion not normally found in Metal/rock. It was harder hitting, more powerful.

Roshan says:
Especially in the first two tracks

Matt says:
i'm finding its taking away the agression
making it sound silly

Matt says:
i cant take this seriously

Roshan says:
OK

Roshan says:
I get it now.

Matt says:
im thinking of posting this discussion as part of my review

Roshan says:
right

Roshan says:
well

Roshan says:
basically, for you its probably like...

...Like listening to foreign music for the first time around your friends, say your forced to listen to it in some seminar or what ever. You start giggling, poking fun at it and overall, doing things to make yourself feel less embarrased. Thats the kind of reaction your having to this sound.

Roshan says:
...like a chav to culture...

Matt says:
no i dont think i am
it is just a poor album

Matt says:
i've heard fusions of different genres before and i think that this could possibly work, i mean anything could work if its done correctly
but skindred does not work

Matt says:
its a failed attempt in my eyes

So overall I could not stand this album, especially on the more heavier songs where the vocals suited the song even less. The vocalist sounds like a cartoon character sterotype of a Jamaican man. On a track like The Fear they actually become tolerable because they aren't trying to be so hardcore and are forcing this botched fusion of genres on the listener.
Therefore I have to give this album 1/5

Radiohead - OK Computer (Review: Roshan)

I’ve head a lot about Radiohead and just like Dan I had high expectations for this album, I’ve listen to this album a lot since it was posted so it’s had plenty of time to grow on me.

First off, the production on this album is amazing, I’ve been listening to the original 1997 release not the 2009 reissue, which I’m sure sounds ever better. I was extremely surprised by how good it sounds, considering how long ago it was released.

Like a good movie, Radiohead’s Ok Computer lets you know what it sets out to do in the open few minutes of Airbag. The first sounds, a fusion of real and “fake” instruments, breaking into minimalist bass lines and an enviable singing voice showcase instantly, the sheer amount of talent coming from this band. If there’s one thing I like, its talent.

This album continues to surprise me, in many ways. None of it sounds the same, each track is individual, using different instrumentation and set up each time. Throughout each song I could recognise something about it that was reminiscent of today’s brit-pop music, its clear that Radiohead have influenced many of the most successful British artists. There is even, what appears to be, the beginnings of post-rock in “Let Down”. Another way in which it surprised me is in the song “Electioneering” at about 1.52 I’m positive I can hear my mother calling me in an annoyed tone, I have been known to drop things it startles me so much. Still, I’m not going to mark them down for that.

This album was hard to review, because there is no, one generic statement I can possibly state about the entire album. It’s clear why this is rated one of the greatest albums of the 20^th Century, and although at first I was sceptical I allowed the album to grow on me. It overarching sounds and brilliant use of strings along with the majestic singing made this album, and even each song a miniature masterpiece.

However, this album while technically brilliant is lacking a certain something, something that Animal Collectives Merriweather Post Pavilion had and this album is lacking. It’s personal feeling that I can’t describe, but I can name about 5 albums in my entire collection that have it, spanning many genres. It doesn’t have name yet, but I’ll think of something.

My Highlights: Airbag / Let Down / No Surprises

Score: 4/5