Week 7: ACDC - Rock Or Bust (2014)

For over 40 years, Australia's ACDC have consistently delivered the goods. Their output has not been prolific the past few decades so when word gets out that a new album is on the way, I mark my calendar.

Malcolm Young's devastating diagnosis and withdrawal from the band preceded the news of Rock Or Bust's upcoming release. Then, long time drummer Phil Rudd's erratic, criminal behavior made waves across the music world. Chris Slade, who played with ACDC back in the early 1990's, has since been announced to return behind the throne for the upcoming tour.

When I went to the record shop to pick up Rock Or Bust, I spied the vinyl edition behind the counter with its eye-grabbing lenticular cover showing a large speaker busting the ACDC logo made out of rock into little pieces. When I saw the vinyl came with a CD, I was sold.

The vinyl edition is one of the best packages I have seen in a while. The album is a gatefold with a nice picture sleeve for the record and a large 12" x 12" booklet with sketches of lyrics, new photos, and a dedication to Malcolm.

The title track opens the album and like all ACDC albums your foot is immediately compelled to tap to the beat. It was great to see ACDC open the Grammys with this song. The tempo increases with "Play Ball," which was used by MLB during last year's World Series.

Next up is my favorite song on the album, "Rock The Blues Away." I can definitely see this song getting even more airplay in my truck once the weather starts getting warmer. It's definitely a feel-good anthem.

"Miss Adventure" has a bunch of great guitar licks that remind me a bit of Jimmy Page and mid-80s Paul Stanley. The slow and moody "Dogs Of War" comes next. "Dogs of war, soldier of fortune" will get stuck in your head.

"Rock And Roll Thunder" is a great swaggering sing-along. "Hard Times" continues with some great Angus licks. The pace jumps up again on "Baptism By Fire" and "Rock The House" has a great opening guitar part and is another great sing-along (the fourth song with rock in the title, by the way). "Sweet Candy" and "Emission Control" close out the album and leave me wanting to sit down and learn these funky licks that are littered all over this record.

ACDC fans most likely already have this record. If you have somehow made it to 2015 without ACDC in your life, then please check out "Rock The Blues Away" and give it a spin. For those of your wanting to learn to play electric guitar, ACDC are a great band to dissect songs, work out licks, and learn chords to.

Keep listening and thank you for reading this.

Week 6: Napalm Death - Apex Predator - Easy Meat (2015)

Death metal is stereotyped as a bunch of noise with some guy barking unintelligible lyrics about death and gore packaged in a sleeve adorned with radical artwork. At first glance, the package of meaty chunks with a label stating Napalm Death to a casual observer will trigger disgust. Listening to the raw grindcore metal contained within will also be easily dismissible to the casual listener.

What a great loss...

As most of us sit in our air conditioned homes, snacking on bountiful food and drink, surfing the web or the television for entertainment, a large part of mankind is subjected to inhumanity and indignity day in and day out. Many people live day to day in fear of brutal terrorist groups. Many people live day to day doing backbreaking labor or working toxic jobs to make a pitiful wage. Many societies have caste systems where those in control are able to treat those lower than them like animals.

Napalm Death keep their finger on the pulse of inequality, indignity, and atrocity in our world and they succinctly channel the rage that should be in all of our hearts in their finely honed sonic outbursts. I have learned more about the injustices of this world through Napalm Death than through any other media. Occasionally, the corporate new broadcasts will touch on some of these stories, but it seems like nothing changes and nothing improves.

I have read several reviews of Apex Predator - Easy Meat and it has been disheartening to read the majority of them as they mention nothing as to the subject matter. They focus only on the music and the production quality. I even read one review stating man is the apex predator and all of the other creatures of the world are the easy meat.

As we are the apex predator on this planet, we find it very easy and convenient to prey upon our own kind. The album notes mention the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh as an influence on the record. Rana Plaza contained clothing factories, shops, and a bank. Cracks began to appear one day. The shops and bank closed. The clothing factories stayed open and even threatened withholding a month's wages from employees who did not show up. The building collapsed killing 1,129 workers the next day.

Napalm Death recorded this album across several recording sessions instead of a single session using different recording setups to vary the sound and they branched out with different types of sounds and arrangements. The end result is exactly what they aimed for in my opinion.

The opening title track is a prime example. The vocals are almost Gregorian chants against industrial clangs and hammers. "Smash A Single Digit" bursts with the grindcore Napalm Death are known for. What was amazing to me after reviewing track lengths on the album is the songs is 1:26 long and has multiple verses, choruses, and even a breakdown change of pace before returning to the main riff. One minute and 26 seconds.

The lyrics are very much about how people in control treat others inhumanely, Even now in the year 2015 mankind has a long way to go. Napalm have perfected the amalgamation of hardcore punk and death metal and "Bloodless Coup" is a great example. "Hierarchies" is a favorite of mine and even has a sing-along chorus.

The vinyl edition contains a vinyl only bonus track while the deluxe CD contains three other bonus tracks including a cover by a Swedish hardcore punk band called G-Anx whom I had not heard of before (Napalm are very good about covering obscure underground bands that have fallen through the cracks of music history).

If you are a Napalm Death fanatic, I think you will agree this is one of their strongest albums in their 30+ year career.

This style of music is not for everyone. Fred Roger's once asked, "What do you do with the mad that you feel?" Obviously, for Napalm Death, they create a musical juggernauts proclaiming to the world all is not well and we have to make this world a better place.

Keep listening and I thank you for reading this.

Week 5: John Carpenter - Lost Themes (2015)

For many, John Carpenter is a guy who made horror films. Yes, most of his films are in the horror genre, but he was equally good at comedy, adventure,, suspense, and science fiction. Not only that, but he was a great auteur on these films. As if making a film was not enough work in and of itself, John Carpenter frequently composed and recorded the soundtracks to his films. These scores were often as memorable as the films themselves. When someone mentions Halloween, how can one not hear those suspenseful piano notes spring to mind. When you think of Escape From New York, how can you not hear those futuristic, synth rhythms.

It is now 2015 and we now have John Carpenter's first solo non-soundtrack album, Lost Themes. These are instrumental, synthesizer driven motifs with single word titles for the listener's imagination to build a vision or movie in their own head. These songs easily sit side-by-side with his soundtrack work and the works of his modern contemporaries such as Zombi.

The opening track, "Vortex," begins with sounds and noises reminiscent of the Ligeti prologue of 2001: A Space Odyssey. These grumblings are silenced by simple, naked piano chords playing the track's theme. The synthesizers come in with a pulsating beat and guitars similar to Tangerine Dream's soundtrack to Thief. The trademark John Carpenter sounds are all here. For me, this track in particular conjures images of Kurt Russell wearing an eye patch in a post-apocalyptic future. This is my favorite track on the album right now and I would direct you to test the waters by listening to it.

"Obsidian" follows and could easily be the background music for a Castlevania game. As the longest track on the LP, the song goes into different moods that cohesively fit together as if telling a wordless story. "Fallen" has a touch more of a science fiction feel to it and the driving beat of the second half is great. "Domain" is a straight up synth rock number that I also feel could lend itself to the world of Castlevania. "Mystery" is a very fitting title. The opening chimes do evoke a feeling of mystery and the heavy guitar and drums in the latter half feels like your exploring an old abandoned house. "Abyss" has a similar air of mystery for the first half of the song, but switches to a more science fiction atmosphere before a huge synth pulse theme begins hammering with some tasteful guitar licks. "Wraith" begins like a latter day Skinny Puppy track with synths that sound like water dropping into puddles. There is a lot of nice guitar on this track. "Purgatory" is sorrowful and soft for the first half and then the drums come in and the song takes a tangent into Escape From New York territory. The final song, "Night" has a fantastic bass synth chug and when the background synths come in against the main theme you can almost see the fog rise from the darkness.

Yes, I am a long time John Carpenter fan.
Yes, I love his soundtrack work.
Yes, I lament his absence from moviemaking.
Yes, I think this new LP is superb.

Here is hoping there is more where this music came from and that it may revitalize his film career.

Keep listening and thank you for reading this.

By the way, John Carpenter's The Thing is the greatest horror/suspense film ever made.

Week 4: Various - Nordisk Sang (1991)

Nordisk Sang is a compilation album I stumbled upon while searching out traditional folk music of Norway. While I enjoy having a physical album in hand, getting a copy of this album was more feasible digitally. My first experiences with the music of Norway were through the extreme metal bands Enslaved and Emperor. While both of these bands have roots in what is termed black metal, their musical palette grew more progressive with each album including touches of traditional folk music. Ihsahn, the mastermind of Emperor, even produced an album of material blending metal and the traditional hardingfele, a type of fiddle, called Hardingrock.

Nordisk Sang is a mix of traditional instruments ranging from flutes to fiddles and hardingfeles with some songs featuring female vocals in Norwegian. I like these vocal tracks, because I think hearing vocals in a foreign language you do not understand allows you to focus solely on the musical quality of the voice without the distraction of the lyrics or message.

The standout track for me is "Heiemo Og Nykkjen" sung by Kirsten Braten Berg. The song would be the perfect piece of music to hear at daybreak to accompany a sunrise camping in the mountains. The vocal delivery is equally haunting and uplifting.

"Nils Og Jens Og Gjeidung" begins with a playful vocal melody also by Kirsten Braten Berg giving way to a hardingfele duplicating the dancing melody. 

This album is a departure from my usual listening habits, but it has really grown on me the past week. I was unsure I would dig it, but I have and it encourages me to search out more music from other countries. 

If you are a fan of traditional folk music or like to explore the music of different cultures and countries, then I recommend checking out this album.

Keep listening and thank you for reading this.

Week 3: Tinariwen - Emmaar (2014)

I enjoy reading Henry Rollins' books chronicling his adventures exploring other countries and people and his latest book, Grim Detail, has a lot of new countries and experiences. The first journey in this book is to the country of Mali in Africa. I admit I had to look at a map to understand its place in relation to the countries I am familiar with. Henry traveled to Mali to go to a music festival called the Festival Au Desert held in the Sahara Desert to see a band called Tinariwen, which I had never heard of, who are from the desert in Mali.

I was able to hit the web and find some videos of Tinariwen and became mesmerized by their style of music commonly referred to as desert blues. I did some research on the group and chose to pick up their latest album on vinyl, Emmaar. Curiously, side four contains three songs not on the accompanying CD included with the vinyl. Amazon's automatic digital download includes these vinyl only tracks.

Tinariwen blend electric guitars, electric bass, hand percussion, claps, and native vocals to make a truly unique sound. I find the mixture very relaxing. The grooves and vocals are soothing to me and I have really enjoyed taking this songs with me on my neighborhood walks and plugging them in when I feel stressed.

Tinariwen have six albums and all of them were recorded in the Sahara Desert except Emmaar. Due to government changes in Mali regarding music, Tinariwen have relocated to the Unites States and Emmaar was recorded in the deserts of Joshua Tree.

Tinariwen have been a breath of fresh air to my listening repertoire and I plan to explore some more of their albums and the other African desert blues artists.

The album is great from beginning to end, but I would recommend "Chaghaybou" and "Emajer" as starting points to see if you dig this style of music. Always try to expand your listening, because there are some great songs out there in every genre in every country around the globe. Try not to limit yourself. Try something new.

Keep listening and thank you for reading this.

 

Week 2: Hans Zimmer - Interstellar - Illuminated Star Projection Edition (2014)

Film score soundtracks form a small percentage of my music library. I may pick up a score once every two or three years when I feel a strong connection with a particular piece I hear in a film. When I pick up a film score, it is usually with severe trepidation that the piece of music that moved me in the first place is not even on the record.

Interstellar hit theaters November 7th and when I walked out of the theater opening weekend, I ordered the score by Hans Zimmer on my phone. Looking back over the past 15 years, the majority of the soundtracks I have picked up have been by Hans Zimmer ranging from Gladiator (with Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard) and Hannibal to the more recent The Dark Knight/The Dark Knight Rises sequels and Man Of Steel.

The initial CD release of Interstellar contains 16 tracks from the film's score. I found out later the digital version has 24 tracks. A few weeks later, I ran across an article mentioning this extended 28 track boxed set was available for pre-order online. The pre-order stated to allow 8-10 weeks for delivery so I waited. After a little over a month, the box arrived.

The box contains a second disc featuring even more music than the digital download, an extended booklet, and a flashing constellation with a coded message.

As I waited for this to arrive, there were a lot of folks clamoring online for the music used during a docking scene that had been omitted from the CD and digital versions. When I saw the film a second time, I really took notice of that piece in the film and wondered how such a powerful part of the score was left off of the releases.

At first glance, the docking music was not on this boxed set either, but the second disc does have an unlisted 13th track containing this missing piece raising the total to 29 tracks. The piece is titled "No Time For Caution" according to Hans Zimmer's Facebook. The track has now been added to the digital edition as well. Disc one is the same 16 tracks on the original single CD release.

I will not give away the code used or the message the stars convey. The constellation cutout can be removed to expose the LEDS, wiring, and two AA batteries. The box closes tight with a set of magnets and there is a small switch that turns off the lights - similar to a refrigerator.

Now, to the music. The interesting color to the Interstellar film score is the pipe organ. I had never realized how earth-rumbling a pipe organ can be. This score can really test the limits of your sound system.

Before Christopher Nolan told Hans Zimmer anything about his next film project, he did an experiment. Nolan wrote a note to Zimmer and asked him to spend a day writing a piece to reflect the written words. The note did not mention space travel or anything that would reveal the science fiction epic Interstellar would become. This piece was entitled "Day One" and became the main theme throughout the film. I believe the note presented the premise that a father had to leave his young son and would not know how many months or years he would be away. The final version of "Day One" is on disc one and the demo is on disc two.

 
There are three standout tracks I would recommend for the curious to listen to.

"Stay" is an emotional piece of music that builds to a heart wrenching climax and if you are familiar with the film, then you will instantly know what has just happened. "No Time For Caution," a last minute addition to this set it seems, builds increasing layers of tension. The piece seems too short leaving you wanting the crescendo to keep going. "Mountains" is my favorite piece on the album. The corresponding part in the film is a grandiose scene you have to see on a big theater screen to truly share the sense of awe the onscreen protagonists must feel as they see what you see. The sliding bass noise gets me every time. I am not sure what instrument is making that noise, but it invokes the sense of bewilderment that matches the jaw-gaping visuals of the film.

Week 1: Yob - Clearing The Path To Ascend (2014)

I have started 2015 with the latest LP by Yob, Clearing The Path To Ascend (released in 2014). Yob are often called a doom/sludge metal band, but I think that is far too limiting a label - I find most labels are. Genre labels can be used as a high level indication of style or feel, but you will never fully describe a band with so few words. You have to take a chance. You have to listen to know the truth.

Mike Scheidt, guitarist and vocalist, has a unique guitar style ranging from very gentle unaccompanied melodies to earthshaking power and emotion. Once you hear a Yob song and Mike's unmistakable voice, then you will get a good idea how limited a label like doom/sludge metal is for these guys.

The album opens with "In Our Blood" and begins with soft, dissonant guitar before pounding the ears with classic Yob power. "Nothing To Win" ups the pace with a tom filled tribal riff and breaks down into a tremendous locked-in drum and bass groove about half way through the song. I have yet to resist the urge to crank this every time. "Unmask The Spectre" starts the second half of the album with trance-like guitar lullaby, which pummels when the band turns it full on.

The album closes with my favorite song on the album, "Marrow." Yob have created another grand, majestic slab of music tapping into the listener's emotions. The song has a kind of melancholy sense of victory like it could accompany the end credits to a film. The outro is one of the finest endings to album I have heard in some time.

Please give Yob a spin. Listen to "Marrow" to test the waters. That song is worth the price of admission alone. If you like "Marrow," then check out an older song of Yob's called "Catharsis," which has been my go to Yob fix for many years.

Keep listening and thank you for reading this.