Stuff that arrived this week:
Brown vs Brown, Odds and Unevens (Cuneiform)
Caspian, The Four Trees (The Mylene Sheath)
Caspian, You Are the Conductor (The Mylene Sheath)
Ron Contour & Factor, Saffron (Fake Four Inc.)
Stephan Crump, Reclamation (Sunnyside)
P.E. Hewitt Jazz Ensemble, Winter Winds - The Complete Works 1968-70 (Now-Again)
Ikonika, Contact, Love, Want, Have (Hyperdub)
The Internal Tulips, Mislead Into a Field by a Deformed Deer (Planet Mu)
Michael Leonhart & the Avramina 7, Seahorse and the Storyteller (Truth & Soul)
Ludicra, Tenant (Profound Lore)
New York Art Quartet, Old Stuff (Cuneiform)
Sevendust, Cold Day Memory (7Bros/ILG)
Starkey, Ear Drums & Black Holes (Planet Mu)
Testament, The Formation of Damnation Deluxe Tour Edition (Nuclear Blast)
Rudi Zygadlo, Great Western Laymen (Planet Mu)
Friday, March 05, 2010
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
THIS WEEK IN ST. LOUIS AND SAN FRANCISCO
Rodrigo y Gabriela/Alex Skolnick Trio
First things first: Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela doesn't play flamenco. Its mostly acoustic music features a little bit of flamenco, but it's more correct to say that the pair mixes together jazz, metal and global influences. However, Rodrigo y Gabriela's sound is expansive enough to include guest appearances: Its latest album, 11:11, features cameos from smooth jazz duo Strunz & Farah to Testament lead guitarist Alex Skolnick (whose trio is opening the show). The disc features eleven tracks dedicated to its influences, including tango composer Astor Piazzolla, Palestinian group Le Trio Joubran and Pantera's late guitarist, Dimebag Darrell. In performance, "RodGab" is kinetic: Rodrigo Sanchez spins out melodic, occasionally distorted runs as Gabriela Quintero strums forceful chords or beats out lightning-fast rhythms on her guitar's hollow body. This is no "sit quietly and applaud politely" show — even without electricity, it's pure energy.
Galactic
New Orleans instrumental funk sextet Galactic has built a sterling reputation on the jam-band scene, rocking Bonnaroo, the seagoing Jam Cruise, and many other gatherings of the unwashed. The group's studio albums provide killer backdrops for a fistful of highly regarded guests. The 2007 release, From the Corner to the Block, was a hip-hop effort featuring Bay Area MCs Lyrics Born, Gift of Gab, Lateef the Truth Speaker, and Boots Riley, among others. On its latest effort, Ya-Ka-May, Galactic represents its hometown, past and present. The hard-grooving disc includes contributions from old-schoolers Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint, as well as Trombone Shorty and the so-called "bounce" rappers Cheeky Blakk and Big Freedia — the last of whom will be at the Fillmore, along with Cyril Neville, when Galactic comes to town on Friday, March 5, and Saturday, March 6.
First things first: Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela doesn't play flamenco. Its mostly acoustic music features a little bit of flamenco, but it's more correct to say that the pair mixes together jazz, metal and global influences. However, Rodrigo y Gabriela's sound is expansive enough to include guest appearances: Its latest album, 11:11, features cameos from smooth jazz duo Strunz & Farah to Testament lead guitarist Alex Skolnick (whose trio is opening the show). The disc features eleven tracks dedicated to its influences, including tango composer Astor Piazzolla, Palestinian group Le Trio Joubran and Pantera's late guitarist, Dimebag Darrell. In performance, "RodGab" is kinetic: Rodrigo Sanchez spins out melodic, occasionally distorted runs as Gabriela Quintero strums forceful chords or beats out lightning-fast rhythms on her guitar's hollow body. This is no "sit quietly and applaud politely" show — even without electricity, it's pure energy.Galactic
New Orleans instrumental funk sextet Galactic has built a sterling reputation on the jam-band scene, rocking Bonnaroo, the seagoing Jam Cruise, and many other gatherings of the unwashed. The group's studio albums provide killer backdrops for a fistful of highly regarded guests. The 2007 release, From the Corner to the Block, was a hip-hop effort featuring Bay Area MCs Lyrics Born, Gift of Gab, Lateef the Truth Speaker, and Boots Riley, among others. On its latest effort, Ya-Ka-May, Galactic represents its hometown, past and present. The hard-grooving disc includes contributions from old-schoolers Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint, as well as Trombone Shorty and the so-called "bounce" rappers Cheeky Blakk and Big Freedia — the last of whom will be at the Fillmore, along with Cyril Neville, when Galactic comes to town on Friday, March 5, and Saturday, March 6.
THIS WEEK IN CLEVELAND
Thrash Landing
Kreator return to their primitive roots
Just as America had its Big Four thrash bands — Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer — Germany had a trio of homegrown powerhouses in the '80s. Starting in the middle of the decade, Sodom, Destruction and Kreator shaped a uniquely German thrash sound — punkier and more primitive than its slick American counterpart.
Kreator's debut album, 1985's Endless Pain, was recorded in 10 days, and it sounds like it. A grinding trio disc that combines the crude, hammering rhythms and caveman riffs of Venom with the lyrical nihilism of Motörhead, it's not their best effort — in fact, it barely hints at what they'd achieve only a year later — but it rocketed them out of obscurity.
When 1986's Pleasure to Kill was released, Kreator's reputation was secure. Songs like the title track, "Riot of Violence" and "Death Is Your Savior" proved that Europe had its own thrash thing going on. Indeed, it could be said that Kreator paved the way for death metal with frontman Mille Petrozza's guttural, barking vocals and the band's punishing sound. The brutality continued on Terrible Certainty and Extreme Aggression, and the group made some breakthroughs outside the recording studio — when the Berlin Wall came down, Kreator was the first metal band to perform in East Germany (a show later documented on At the Pulse of Kapitulation, a mid-'90s home video that was reissued as a CD/DVD set in 2008).
The 1990s weren't nearly as kind to Kreator, creatively or commercially. Beginning with 1990's Coma of Souls, they started to experiment, incorporating industrial elements and writing longer, more musically ambitious songs, with mixed results. Fans weren't pleased, and the band's profile dipped substantially. Even Petrozza's longtime partner, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, grew disgusted and left just before 1995's aptly titled Cause for Conflict, though he returned on 1997's Outcast.
Finally, in 2001, the group got back on track. Violent Revolution kicked off with "Reconquering the Throne," and the album lived up to that title's promise, delivering one reinvigorated blast of raw, crushing thrash after another. Reviews were rapturous, and the tour that followed saw fans returning in droves. Kreator then released their first live album, Live Kreation, which featured performances so strong, they even rehabilitated songs from the reviled Cause for Conflict, Outcast and Endorama.
Enemy of God, from 2005, was another collection of killer modern thrash. Since that album's release to another chorus of critical hosannas, Kreator hasn't slackened the pace. For the past five years, they've been touring the globe, only taking some time out to record another album, Hordes of Chaos, released in early 2009. Much shorter than its two predecessors, each of which offered 12 tracks and nearly an hour of music, Chaos features only 10 songs and gets the job done in less than 40 minutes — another sign that Kreator have come full circle and gone back to their primitivist thrash roots.
They promoted the album with one of the most hilarious videos ever, for the title track. The "Hordes of Chaos" clip cuts back and forth between Kreator playing the song atop a heap of bodies and the adventures of a head-choppin', limb-severin' barbarian who seems to own nothing but fur underwear, a big-ass sword and a generous supply of baby oil. "Jörn Heitmann came up with the concept," says Petrozza. "I think he wanted to visualize the Hordes of Chaos and use images from [painter Frank] Frazetta, Conan the Barbarian, etc. I think the results look amazing! There was a lot of waiting around on the set, so no exciting stories to tell, unfortunately."
In 2008, Petrozza told Metal Edge magazine, "No offense to bands that do anniversaries all the time — there's bands that celebrate the 10th anniversary, the 15th anniversary — but we're not into that. We focus on the present and the future of the band, not what we've achieved in the past, and I don't see a reason why I should have a special celebration. I think that's kinda lame, to be honest."
But for the band's 25th-anniversary tour, Kreator asked fans to vote for songs to be played live — and thousands responded. "The surprising thing is that our taste is not that far off from what our fans like," says Petrozza. "[But] there will be some songs in the set that we haven't played in a long time."
And even as they honor their past, Kreator are once again in transition. In May 2009, their label SPV declared the European equivalent of bankruptcy and shut down its U.S. division. Recently Petrozza announced, "We have just signed a worldwide deal with Nuclear Blast, the strongest metal label in the world!"
Petrozza's enthusiasm for the music is at the core of his being. He's had more success with Kreator over the past 25 years than Steve "Lipps" Kudlow and Robb Reiner had with Anvil, but he shares their attitude that metal is something you do out of love. Asked about his near 30-year relationship with drummer Reil, who had to skip a recent leg of tour dates due to medical problems, he says simply, "It's great! We both love metal! We are living our dream!"
Kreator return to their primitive roots
Just as America had its Big Four thrash bands — Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer — Germany had a trio of homegrown powerhouses in the '80s. Starting in the middle of the decade, Sodom, Destruction and Kreator shaped a uniquely German thrash sound — punkier and more primitive than its slick American counterpart.Kreator's debut album, 1985's Endless Pain, was recorded in 10 days, and it sounds like it. A grinding trio disc that combines the crude, hammering rhythms and caveman riffs of Venom with the lyrical nihilism of Motörhead, it's not their best effort — in fact, it barely hints at what they'd achieve only a year later — but it rocketed them out of obscurity.
When 1986's Pleasure to Kill was released, Kreator's reputation was secure. Songs like the title track, "Riot of Violence" and "Death Is Your Savior" proved that Europe had its own thrash thing going on. Indeed, it could be said that Kreator paved the way for death metal with frontman Mille Petrozza's guttural, barking vocals and the band's punishing sound. The brutality continued on Terrible Certainty and Extreme Aggression, and the group made some breakthroughs outside the recording studio — when the Berlin Wall came down, Kreator was the first metal band to perform in East Germany (a show later documented on At the Pulse of Kapitulation, a mid-'90s home video that was reissued as a CD/DVD set in 2008).
The 1990s weren't nearly as kind to Kreator, creatively or commercially. Beginning with 1990's Coma of Souls, they started to experiment, incorporating industrial elements and writing longer, more musically ambitious songs, with mixed results. Fans weren't pleased, and the band's profile dipped substantially. Even Petrozza's longtime partner, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, grew disgusted and left just before 1995's aptly titled Cause for Conflict, though he returned on 1997's Outcast.
Finally, in 2001, the group got back on track. Violent Revolution kicked off with "Reconquering the Throne," and the album lived up to that title's promise, delivering one reinvigorated blast of raw, crushing thrash after another. Reviews were rapturous, and the tour that followed saw fans returning in droves. Kreator then released their first live album, Live Kreation, which featured performances so strong, they even rehabilitated songs from the reviled Cause for Conflict, Outcast and Endorama.
Enemy of God, from 2005, was another collection of killer modern thrash. Since that album's release to another chorus of critical hosannas, Kreator hasn't slackened the pace. For the past five years, they've been touring the globe, only taking some time out to record another album, Hordes of Chaos, released in early 2009. Much shorter than its two predecessors, each of which offered 12 tracks and nearly an hour of music, Chaos features only 10 songs and gets the job done in less than 40 minutes — another sign that Kreator have come full circle and gone back to their primitivist thrash roots.
They promoted the album with one of the most hilarious videos ever, for the title track. The "Hordes of Chaos" clip cuts back and forth between Kreator playing the song atop a heap of bodies and the adventures of a head-choppin', limb-severin' barbarian who seems to own nothing but fur underwear, a big-ass sword and a generous supply of baby oil. "Jörn Heitmann came up with the concept," says Petrozza. "I think he wanted to visualize the Hordes of Chaos and use images from [painter Frank] Frazetta, Conan the Barbarian, etc. I think the results look amazing! There was a lot of waiting around on the set, so no exciting stories to tell, unfortunately."
In 2008, Petrozza told Metal Edge magazine, "No offense to bands that do anniversaries all the time — there's bands that celebrate the 10th anniversary, the 15th anniversary — but we're not into that. We focus on the present and the future of the band, not what we've achieved in the past, and I don't see a reason why I should have a special celebration. I think that's kinda lame, to be honest."
But for the band's 25th-anniversary tour, Kreator asked fans to vote for songs to be played live — and thousands responded. "The surprising thing is that our taste is not that far off from what our fans like," says Petrozza. "[But] there will be some songs in the set that we haven't played in a long time."
And even as they honor their past, Kreator are once again in transition. In May 2009, their label SPV declared the European equivalent of bankruptcy and shut down its U.S. division. Recently Petrozza announced, "We have just signed a worldwide deal with Nuclear Blast, the strongest metal label in the world!"
Petrozza's enthusiasm for the music is at the core of his being. He's had more success with Kreator over the past 25 years than Steve "Lipps" Kudlow and Robb Reiner had with Anvil, but he shares their attitude that metal is something you do out of love. Asked about his near 30-year relationship with drummer Reil, who had to skip a recent leg of tour dates due to medical problems, he says simply, "It's great! We both love metal! We are living our dream!"
HOW NOT TO MAKE ME LISTEN TO YOUR RECORD
Got a CD called Seahorse and the Storyteller, by Michael Leonhart and the Avramina 7, in today's mail. Here are the two paragraphs from the press release that nearly caused me to hurl the CD the length of the post office:
While on the road with Steely Dan in 2005, Leonhart came up with the idea to record a concept record that would meld the styles of Bollywood funk scores, '60s psychedelic rock, and the mythical storytelling of artists like the Beatles and Donovan. Seahorse and the Storyteller is a modern kaleidoscopic opera that in the words of Leonhart, "tells the story of two mythical creatures who meet, fall in love and begin piecing together the mysteries of each other's past."
Seahorse and the Storyteller is a record that defines genre generalizations and will prove to be one of the most enjoyable and interesting records of 2010. With quirky arrangements featuring strings, mellotron, fuzz guitar, horns, vibes, farfisa, gang vocals, and practically every percussion instrument under the sun, Michael Leonhart & The Avramina 7 have created a new and unique sound that heavily draws influence from artists like R.D Burman, The Beatles, Fela Kuti, and 60's psychedelic but manages to sound completely fresh and new and like nothing else out there.
[Grammatical and punctuation errors, inconsistent capitalization, etc., all in original.]
I would seriously rather have a lit match stubbed out on my eyelid than listen to this album.
While on the road with Steely Dan in 2005, Leonhart came up with the idea to record a concept record that would meld the styles of Bollywood funk scores, '60s psychedelic rock, and the mythical storytelling of artists like the Beatles and Donovan. Seahorse and the Storyteller is a modern kaleidoscopic opera that in the words of Leonhart, "tells the story of two mythical creatures who meet, fall in love and begin piecing together the mysteries of each other's past."
Seahorse and the Storyteller is a record that defines genre generalizations and will prove to be one of the most enjoyable and interesting records of 2010. With quirky arrangements featuring strings, mellotron, fuzz guitar, horns, vibes, farfisa, gang vocals, and practically every percussion instrument under the sun, Michael Leonhart & The Avramina 7 have created a new and unique sound that heavily draws influence from artists like R.D Burman, The Beatles, Fela Kuti, and 60's psychedelic but manages to sound completely fresh and new and like nothing else out there.
[Grammatical and punctuation errors, inconsistent capitalization, etc., all in original.]
I would seriously rather have a lit match stubbed out on my eyelid than listen to this album.
Monday, March 01, 2010
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