Valley of the Giants- Self Titled (2004)

Being unable to remember exactly how I came across Valley of the Giants, I am going to safely assume that I saw this album up for download, on Soulseek.  Like with a lot of the releases that I have, or even review, I just see a name and if the genre is labeled with something that I am into, I usually download it.  With Valley of... being a post-rock band, I would think that was the main reason for me wanting to check them out; and after the first listen I was intrigued and then after the second, I heard a lot of the sounds/production that made me a fan. 

This self titled release that's over an hour long didn't really grab me too much after the first listen.  I have a really bad tendency to flip through tracks if I get bored with the song, or if I feel like it's dragging on a little too much.  But, there was enough there to make me give it a 2nd listen; which now I am happy that I did.  The album starts off pretty slow, beginning with acoustic guitar/violin and slow building up until the 2nd track comes in with the same pace and some female vocals.  Even though it's a little on the slow side, each track seems to build off the previous track culminating into a really thick layered sound of multiple instruments and on a few tracks, the female vocals.  Over all this is a post rock album, but with the sound that almost mimics a movie score, there are additional elements that add twists and turns to the overall feel of the album.  I like the fact that this is an "abnormal" post rock album, due to the fact that unless it's really outstanding, post rock can get a little boring in my opinion; honestly it's the female vocals that adds a dream pop sound that really gives it that twist. 

With lots of layers and sounds along with some good instrumentation, this post rock supergroup adds their own style to the post rock genre that can appeal to a wide audience, given the opportunity.  The quality of the recording is superb and is really clean yet the studio production gives it enough "dirtiness" that a music snob like myself can appreciate what is being played.  A good album to have, it might not be in a heavy rotation in your music collection, but when the mood strikes you, this will fulfill what you are needing. 

Official score- 3.25/5

Ibrahim Ferrer-Chepin&His Oriental Orchestra -Mi Oriente- 1960

My first introduction to Ibrahim Ferrer was on the Buena Vista Social Club documentary/album, which I immediately fell in love with.  There is something about this album though that hits my true music enthusiast heart of hearts.  I don't know if it's the sound of the album due to the age in which it was recorded, the style of music that is being played or the combination of all of these things.  I mentioned Ibrahim Ferrer in an early post when I reviewed a different hispanic album, so I figured I'd do a review on the album I referenced. 

Mi Oriente is a 21 track album that is a perfect representation of early latin jazz and traditional Cuban music.  Within the album there are a few slower songs, but even these songs have a tenacity for greatness with the amount of emotion that is portrayed through the music.  But in regards to the more upbeat tracks on this album, they are highly addictive rhythmical songs that will get your foot tapping and musical blood pumping.  I am not a spanish speaker, nor do I understand spanish, but in my opinion music is the one truly universal language that is spoken to any listener/fan/musician.  I have listened to this album many many times over the years and I never get sick of listening to it.  The multiple instrument percussion section along with the lo-fi stylistically recorded horns help enhance the listeners mind's eye when it comes to understanding the expressions that are being played out for us all to hear.  Being recorded in 1960, this is a very early release by Ibrahim Ferrer, and even though I am a big fan of his later releases, when he was older and the vocal style shows his age, this release of a young Ibrahim shows where he started, and helps give a clear cut picture of the Cuban music scene. 

The Buena Vista Social Club documentary/album is a great place to get an overview of this style of Cuban music, but once you get past that, and want a real portrayal of it's origins, go get this album.  I'll be honest and inform you that is this in my digital library, so I haven't purchased this, but if I ever come across it, I will buy it for my music collection.

Official score- 4/5

Deadfood- Weird Feelings (2000)

I can still remember finding out about these guys, many years ago.  I was looking online for a Subtract to Zero LP, and came across this small distro. that was running a sale.  So, long story short I was reading through the different titles they had and saw this Deadfood release.  The description said metal and jazz and some other stuff, so I was thinking, "Metal and Jazz, Hell ya!" so I picked it up for under $5!  When I got the cd I remember looking at the cover, then the inside cover, and thinking "what the hell?", due to the fact that there are only pictures of mushrooms on the cover, and not band info. what-so-ever anywhere in their packaging. Right away from minute number one, after I started playing it, I realized that this is one of the most unique sounding projects that I had come across.  With that being said, I have come across other bands that are similar in style, over the years, but with this being such a cool/cheap find, I rank it pretty high.

Weird Feelings is 13 track release that covers all aspects of musical enlightenment.  Deadfood hits the spastic uniqueness that most bands can't even comprehend.  In all honesty the only other album that can stand toe-to-toe with this is Mr. Bungle's Disco Volante album.  Multiple instruments get intertwined in a weave of highly experimental yet really well put together noise rock meets electronic rock meets noise/grindcore/experimentalism.  The band has members in other equally impressive projects but in all honesty, none can compare to Deadfood.  EdibleChrist has given me 2 other Deadfood releases, as gifts, and they are both just as freakin' awesome.  I have sat here, while typing this review to think of multiple ways to describe this project, but there is really no way to describe them.

Multiple instruments and multiple genre's and time changes mark this album repeatedly, which for any music enthusiast is a sign of great craftsmanship.  When I think of some of my favorite all time bands, broken down by genre/style, these guys definitely top the list of of their style; not to mention that I would say that they are probably in my top 25 all time favorites.  If you can find this, you should buy it, you will not be disappointed, but if you must, look on your favorite file sharing program. 

Official score- 4.20/5 

Neutral Milk Hotel- In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998)

If I remember correctly, this band was yet again, introduced to me by Mr. Chelmets.  When I first heard this album by Neutral Milk Hotel, I was mainly into aggressive music that was loud and fast and brutal, and even though this album is the opposite of it, I immediately fell in love with it. When you listen to this album, you'll realize that there is something really different about it; it's not overly produced or some great symphonic piece, yet the style and emotion that is intertwined with the songs has a tendency to grab you and not let go.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is not the first release by Neutral Milk Hotel, but when you ask the majority of people who are familiar with them, this is what put them on the map.  11 tracks and right under 40 minutes long, this album plays very quickly, yet by the end of the album, you feel like you've been on an insightful journey with a story that was told that grips every part of your mind.  The album itself has a great streamline of tracks; as some of the tracks ends the next one starts with the same lead out sound of the preceding.  Lots of fuzz, the guitar and bass end up melding with an overtone of fuzz that helps put additional grit to the folk type vocals.  Even with a "folk" type base to these tracks, the lyrics help produce a vivid imagery of lonesomeness and strife that gets resurrected with triumphant vigor.  I'm not into the sappy emotional type songs that make you feel like you should be sad or something, and even though these lyrics help bring out musical emotion, that emotion is enveloped in the grand scheme of available feelings.  Mainly acoustic guitar driven, there is a horn section on multiple tracks that, when mixed with their low-fi sound and fuzz, helps with additional aural effects that brings the whole track/album together.

This is one of my all time favorite albums.  I have read through this review a couple of time before I posted it, and I still feel like I haven't given it enough credit.  I have, and will continue to, recommend this album to everyone; as the sound is for a wide audience, not just a certain niche.  NMH is no longer around, though the main guy, Jeff Magnum, is still doing different artistic endeavors.  This album can be found in most music store, with it being released on CD/Tape & Vinyl, but can be found all over the place online.  If you use peer-2-peer software, you will be able to find a lot of live bootlegs, studio releases and self-released material for free.  Get this, buy it, whatever; I promise you won't be disappointed.

Official score-4.5/5

Darkthrone- Transilvanian Hunger (1994)

Having been roomates with Gene Cesspool, for quite some time, I was introduced to, and became a metal fan over the years.  With there being many different genres within Metal as a whole, I was drawn to the dark evil side of Black Metal, relatively quickly.  Out of all the different Black Metal bands I have heard, Darkthrone quickly became my favorite.  Having started with a Death Metal sound, Darkthrone transitioned into a premier Black Metal sound, hailing from Norway.  Having been around since the beginnings of the Black Metal scene, and still releasing music, Darkthrone has established themselves as iconic figures.

Transilvanian Hunger is Darkthrone's 4th album. (They have 14 total, with the last release being in 2010!)  Currently, Darkthrone has strayed away from their Black Metal sound, and have progressed into their own style of metal/speed metal-punk sound, but this album is one of their true Black Metal releases.  With 8 track and nearly 40 minutes of true old school Black Metal, you won't get disappointed with this album.  Darkthrone has been one of my favorites because they aren't a melodic black metal band, they are true in your face dark black metal: guitars, drums, vocals; no keyboards or atmospheric sounds or silly singing interludes to try and make you think of evilness.  The other aspect about this album that is great, is that fact that the recording was done on analog equipment, over 17 years ago, so that dirty raw sound is affluent throughout the tracks.  I have a friend that I loaned this album to, and he didn't like it due to that reason, but then again he has a HIM album in his collection.  Either way you look at this, if you are a metal fan, black metal fan, punk fan or extreme music fan, this not only shows the roots and sounds of the genre but holds true to the underlining black metal sound.

If you like black metal, get this; if you like metal, then get this.  No matter how you come across it, find it, or seek it out, this is a great album to listen to and for archival purposes.

Official score- 4/5

Spanish Harlem Orchestra- Across 110th Street (2004)

Growing up in a mexican-american household and being exposed to latin music at an early age, I find myself going through phases where I want to hear some latin music that gets the ol' nostalgia going.   Browsing folders in my favorite peer-2-peer program, Soulseek, I came across Spanish Harlem Orchestra, and after looking them up, I figured "let's check out some modern Salsa".

Across 110th Street is a pretty good album, with lots of energy and swinging sounds that will pretty much fill any want you might have if you are craving Salsa.  (not the kind for your chips retard!)   The album flows really well, and every song is really well produced; and that's where I ran into a snag.  It's not that I don't like nicely produced music, but every so often, on this album, there were some production edits, to the vocals and mix, that seemed a little too clean.  To me, part of the attraction to World music, and especially latin music, is the feel of, for a better lack of words, Earthiness.  I like to have the music make me think of the musicians, in their own country, playing live or in a little club or something; I don't know, maybe I am a little overly critical, but that's all I got.  The vocals, featuring Ruben Blades, are really good, the music is really good, overall the album is really good;  but if you have ever heard any Ibrahim Ferrer, then you'll know what I mean when I talk about the over production.  (Granted Ibrahim Ferrer isn't really a Salsa vocalist, the general latin style is what I am referencing in this.)  With 13 tracks and a little over an hour of playtime, this album goes by pretty fast.

If you like Salsa music, you'll like this; or if you like latin music as a whole, you'll like this album.  Across 110th Street is a great jumping off point for latin/salsa music, but you can find better if you dig around a little bit.  Totally worth buying if you find it used or online for a free download.

Official score- 3.75/5

Samla Mammas Manna- Maltid (1973)

If it wasn't for EdibleChrist introducing me to the R.I.O.- Rock In Opposition- genre, I never would have come across these guys.  Sammla Mammas Manna has gone through multiple line up changes and even a few name changes, but this album, their 2nd, seems to sum up this early 70's Swedish Prog/Rio sound to a "T". 

Maltid has a huge mix of all musical styles combined in one single direct approach for an all encompassing sound.  The vocals are in Swedish, and since I don't speak Swedish, I have no idea what they are saying; but since they use their vocals as more of an instrument and not as a "main sound" it fits in perfectly. (Seriously, they could be talking about unicorns or the newest Swedish dance hit for all I know.)  The great thing about this album, and alot of the early 70's European RIO/prog sound, is the fact that all the instruments being played, are being played very well.  You get to hear solos on various instruments, and the drumming is really quite advanced when you think of the time period when it was made.  Since the time signatures change and the instrumentation is weaving in and out of each other, the percussion is a constant throughout, not including their own solos.  Guitars, bass, pianos, xylophones, and more are used to provide you with a sense of music based comradeship that melts into a dynamic sound that will keep the most avid music fan and the most hyper ADHD child enthralled with interest.

RIO is a genre that you have to acquire a taste for.  Not for the standard music fan, this album and the genre as a whole, will be highly respected by some, and greatly disliked by others.  If you enjoy divers music, you'll love RIO and if you like RIO, you must get this album.

Official score-4/5

Jedi Mind Tricks- The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness (1997)

This is another project that I have to thank Chelmets for introducing me to.  I have always been a fan of hip hop, and as I have gotten older, I really enjoy social based lyrics and intellectual insight, which Jedi Mind Tricks portray to the fullest in this album. 

The Psycho-Social release by Jedi Mind Tricks is the first of many releases from this Philadelphia based group.  With 18 tracks of darkly based beats that interweave social/political/esoteric topics, this is truly a really good album.  Now anyone who listens to a lot of music, might be thinking, "late 90's rap? seriously?" But this album holds consistent insight, even 14 years later.  The beats on this album are really good, every track has a dark theme to its sound, and you can tell that the production was scrutinized while getting mixed down prior to it's release.  The lyrics touch on a wide variety of topics including political issues, as well as social issues mixed in with references to many many esoteric topics & alien life form; it's a great album to bring up in a debate on how smart musicians can be, in any genre, especially in hip hop when there are many people who down hip hop as a whole.  Different spoken word clips precede a few of the tracks, which helps put you in the mindset to take in the lyrical journey that the listener experiences throughout this release. 

I rarely listen to hip hop these days, but when I do, this album is a constant for me.  There are many other releases by Jedi Mind Tricks, but this one seemed to stick with me more than any of the rest.  I enjoy hearing all the topics being discussed as well as the type of intellectualism that is portrayed by these artists.  This is one of my top 5 all time favorite hip hop albums, and as long as your not socially/politically uneducated, then you'll love this as well; a must have.

Official score-4/5

Forbidden Demyelination - Chaos Chorus: Dreams Delight (February 2011)

The most recent and only recording M@ and myself have done this year or for the better part of 6 months. We've been doing this project for a good 5+ years now; it being an outlet for exploration of what can be accomplished through random improvisational moments of amateur musical experimentation. Having taken upon many different forms and styles over the years from our beginnings of a horrible noise + vocalization drunkenness, off into many terrains: new wave cheese, electronics heavy gore psychedelia, industrial sound tinkering, undecipherable gutter grindcore, blasphemous bonzo black metal, whiskey soaked blues/country, pop-rock oddity, tropical sunshine surf atmospheres, tribal spirit excavation, to epic multi-layered(tracked) art/noise/space rock psychedelic void.

By mentioning all these qualities that we've bestowed upon our recordings I certainly don't intend to say that the majority of them have much for any expertise or writing skills whatsoever. What we have here is a free form expression of whatever takes place within the "moment" we are recording; good or bad, snazzy or scabby. Our editing on the other hand as well as the meshing of the jamming cues we send and recieve from each other has improved greatly over the years; I do believe that this quality can be heard consitently and growing with each release.

Ok now for an actual review of what takes place within this particular recording.

Beginning with some soft percussion, microkorg synth melody, effected bass guitar experimentation, the synth and bass begin on a loop and we both go into percussion heavy jam, myself on the kit and M@ on his djembe. Swelling, softening, speeding up, slowing down, manic intricacy becoming one atmospheric groove which flows into the next track. The 2nd track takes shape as a surfy jazz like noise rock jam workout between myself on drums and M@ playing bass. Going through many hues of expression, various timing structures, and vibe'itry; I find that this is where M@ and myself shine in our jamming capacity. The 3rd and final track is of a similar vibe but with the added use of hammond organ, more microkorg, and various bass effects. Having a bit more aggressive overblown erratic noise rock sound quality as well as sinking more into exploratory terrain with soothing space rock like energy; the track finishes into a bluesy jam between the two of us finding the groove once again which decays off to the twilight of sporadic sounds. If listened to on repeat the final track flows right into the first lending it a cyclic force.

Now the quality of this recording, track names coming from personal dream images, is certainly not the greatest being open mics into a 2 input cassette deck, but the sound achieved through this means did come out quite clear and crisp though not attaining to the depths some of our other noise-chapel studio works have. For a relatively short listen the almost 23 minutes of this recording moves along rather swiftly and fluidly. Making it honestly a decent place to experience what we as Forbidden Demyelination offer with our output though the albums: Dehydration Induced Hallucination and Self-Titled are much more showing of our full creative capabilities.

Thank you for your time; I hope you can enjoy any of this remotely as much as M@ and I do constructing our mayhemic bliss.

find and listen to some tracks from other albums here: http://www.myspace.com/forbiddendemyelination
or also download and listen to past recordings here:http://www.archive.org/details/urr-netlabel
as well as one available from Smell The Stench no. 213(also available above): http://www.smellthestench.net/net.htm
and for this recording and its cover:http://www.mediafire.com/?52bdoegxre4kw
and a video from the album "Utter":



3/5(have to stay humble knowing we aren't for everyone yet enjoying it greatly myself)

Freak Flag- Experiments in Evolution (2003)

This band is from my town, and this is probably one of the best albums.  Now I know, "ohh those guys are from your town and you probably know them so you think their so cool.", well ya I know them, but seriously this is a fantastic album.  I have been trying to think of what album I have, from a local band, that I want to review first; so I decided to go with my favorite one. 

Freak Flag is really one of the most well rounded and bad ass Experimental/Post-Punk/Space Rock bands around.  This album truly has everything in it: fast punk rhythms mixed with aggression, yet clean and experimental enough to make you listen and realize what all is really going on; as well as cool dark rhythm based melodies that gives you the spaced out atmospheric drones that'll lead you into submission until a lead comes back in get set off your hyperactivity.  I have seen these songs played live, and the album pretty much as their live set, and I have always been very happy with it.  Freak Flag is one of those bands that can pull off their studio sound, live; which is amazing once you listen to it and hear everything that is going on, in the forefront and the background.  The 15 tracks from this album flow better than a loose skank's heavy flow; but honestly, the album flows perfectly and you don't get bored, not even once, during the album.  (which is a huge thing when trying to listen to an album if you have a decent sized collection; at least for me.)

Experiments in Evolution was released on an awesome local label, and Freak Flag can be reached through their Myspace page. With this band not being as big as it should be, you need to contact them to get a copy.  And when you do contact them and get a copy, or listen to the tracks on their page, you won't regret it.  I personally would get the album, locals bands should always be supported, and this album sounds great through a home system. (lots of great pan work and production.)  Despite all that; if I was to stumble across these guys online or see them live, and didn't know them personally, they would still be one of my top all together favorites. I am gonna be overly critical when I give it an official score, because of the fact that I know them, people might think I'm not taking the review all that seriously.  But man, this album is freakin' good and seriously kicks the shit out that fuckin' Arcade Fire album that you are probably listening to.


Official score- 4.75/5

Einsturzende Neubauten- Grundstuck (2005)

Einsturzende Neubauten is in my top 5 favorite all time bands, ever.  Mr. Chelmets introduced them to me, years ago, and I have loved them ever since.  Gene Cesspool & I once drove 10 hours to see them live, then directly after the show, turned around and drove the same 10 hours back.  (On a side note, that was the first, and only, time that I fell asleep driving; which is a really weird/scary feeling.  The trip was tons of fun, and the venue was awesome; even though it was horribly hot in Austin Texas that time of year.)

Grundstuck is an amazing album; and honestly it's hard to find an EN album that is not amazing. 10 tracks of the most amazing post-industrial/melodic/experimental/etc. releases.  If you are not familiar with E.N., you absolutely have to get familiar with them.  This is one of those bands that are historic, I personally have most of their albums, copies of some of the albums on vinyl, a few dvds, I pretty much get everything that I can that is E.N. related.  These guys are from Germany, and are so liked, they get to record in water towers, under the Autobahn, travel the world, and for the last few years have released their albums on their own.  (They have such a huge following that you can become a "member" and get the cd or dvd and the money goes to the completion of the album, the manufacturing, printing, etc.)  Grundstuck is just 1 of many examples of the possibility within music when played and composed by highly skilled highly intuitive musicians.

This album has quite a few changes, from song to song, so it doesn't grow old, even after the un-teenth listen.  Post-Industrial meets studio effects meets vocals that are working along home-made instruments that are all corralled in a symposium of sweet auditory bliss.  I wish that I could write a small periodical on what E.N. has done with music, with the amount of influence they have had on other musicians and the music scene as a whole.  Whenever I get into a conversation regarding music, I usually get asked who are my favorite bands; and when I say E.N., I always get this crazy weird look from whomever I am conversing with. 

This review might not be the most thorough of reviews, regarding the album itself; and I apologize.  But E.N. is one of those bands that will always be pioneers, and will always be revered as one of the all time bests by true music enthusiasts. 

Official score- 4.75/5
(If I ever do another E.N. review, it will always be 4.75/5.  It should be 5/5, but with a lot of people being music ignorant, I toned down the Official Score.)

Suicide Girls- Guide To Living DVD (2010)

If you aren't aware of who or what the Suicide Girls are, you absolutely have to check them out, seriously.  Do you like tattoos? How about piercings? Hot chicks? Naked hot chicks? Naked chicks with tattoos and piercings?  If you answered yes, to any of these questions then you will like the Suicide Girls.  (Seriously, this should be a no-brainer.)

This is actually not the first dvd released by the Suicide Girls.  I'll be honest here, I really like the suicide girls.  I have no idea when or where or how I first stumbled across them, but over the years I have amassed quite a collection of their pic. sets, 2 of their videos and their first photo book; so I am a little biased when it comes to reviewing their stuff.  Now, I have been trying to think how to review this DVD, I mean why wouldn't it just get a 5/5 automatically?  Well, it should, but probably not going to rate it that high. Trust me the DVD is great!  You have tons o' naked chicks, some interviews and then they talk in between each segment.  I guess my only issue is the fact that is plays out like a Playboy video.  With this being 100% soft core style "porn", more pin up style really, or it can even be labeled artistic nudity, it can be a little boring.  (I use the word "boring" in a very liberal sense, due to the fact that any nakedness is not that boring really.)  I liked the interviews with the different models, and then when they go into their "artsy" sequences, much like Playboy films, there is some really bad ass stuff going on. 

With nearly 90 minutes of naked pierced/tattooed ladies, how could you pass this up?  I think this is a must for anyone's library of nakedness, or artsy-ness, but with a real soft soft-core/pin up style, it might take you a while to see it the whole way through.  Luckily Suicide Girls are so popular, you can find almost all of their stuff, super cheap or for free via the internet!

Official score- 4.25/5

BOAT- Soul Thrash Train (1999)

This is a very interesting album, not only that, but this is a band from Japan that I can't really seem to find any bio on.  I have looked online, went through many different links, and even had Firefox translate Japanese pages for me, all to little avail.  Now, I have found pages that list this album, and others that they have their discography, but I can't seem to find any info. on the band itself, that's why you will see very few, if any, links in this post, regarding the band itself.  (So if you read this, please post a link if you find any background info.)

Boat is from Japan, sings in Japanese, and that's pretty much all I know at this time.  Like my usual precursor, I have no idea how I stumbled across these guys, more than likely, and I'm 100% sure this is how it went, I was browsing different users' files on Soulseek and decided to go ahead and try it.  I pride myself in being able to describe what genre(s) a band falls into, for the most part, but for some reason BOAT just seems to escape labeling.  But let me try nonetheless:  Imagine a poppy Japanese band, with the usual shoegaze style female vocals, playing standard Japanese Pop music, then completely switch that up, for every single track; seriously every track!  Every track, out of the 13, are pretty different from the rest; the style changes, the tempo/timing changes, the vocals change, pretty much everything is different, as you go from song to song on the 35+ minutes this release has.  (pop, punk, rock, experimental rock, noise rock, etc.)  I really want to find out more about these guys, and I have plans on getting their other 4 releases to see what they are like as well. 

After reading through this, I feel like my review of this band/album is lacking quite a bit, but this is one of those, and I know I've said this before, bands that you have to check out for yourself.  I really enjoy music, and when you mix in music form other cultures that switches things up so drastically, it's usually a hit with me.  Depending on where you live, you might be able to find this in a store, but more than likely you'll need to look online or download it, if you want to check them out; which you should. 

Official score- 3.75/5

Mayhem- Deathcrush (1987)

Mayhem is one of those legendary bands with so much history and lore, that's is scary and freakin' awesome at the same time.  Formed in 1984, they were one of the pioneers in black metal.  Not only did they write and play songs about all things evil/black metal, they lived it. I won't get into the history of the band, nor the trials/tribulations, but trust me, look up their history and then you'll have to hold them in reverence. ( if you look at the murders & suicides and the apparent craziness of the early metal/black metal scene.)

Deathcrush was Mayhem's first studio release, way back in 1987.  With 6 brutally pioneering tracks, this 20 minute release is short, evil, and brutal.  There were only a few other truly Black Metal bands around at that time period, who spread as much evil and chaos that Mayhem did.  An old friend of mine turned me on to Mayhem, when he was telling me about some letter correspondences he had with Death, before he died.  (Serious follow the "history" link and read about them, its crazy.)  When you listen to this album, it shows that its an old recording, but the brutality of the music being played and the amount of style they had, completely shows through.  Fast brutal drumming mixed with heavily distorted metal guitar and the classic black metal vocals provides a perfect representation of the early black metal scene, not to mention where it has ended up now.  Mixed on the album you will hear harsh electro/noisy intros, as well as some other stuff that will surprise you from a black metal released in the late 80's. 

This is one of my all time favorite, early black metal albums; and honestly this goes right along with some of the early Darkthrone releases, which are my favorite.  You can pretty much find this album anywhere- for free online or for less than $10 at online store, and trust me, it's well worth $10.  Get this album!

Official score-4/5

Rumah Sakit- Obscured by Clowns (2002)

Being unable to remember how I came across Rumah Sakit, I feel comfortable saying that I probably decided to check them out, based solely on their name.  (those unusual names/titles always seem to perk my interests.)  After listening to this album a few times now, I am glad that I found out about them. 

I really enjoy intricate sounding instrumental music, and that's what you get on "Obscured by Clowns".  Each of the 9 songs does a good job at weaving intricacies into the music palette that you get audibly fed. Many genres get touched upon in this album: jazz, metal, post rock-ishness, technical playing, math rock, etc.  The music is fun and light hearted all while they play some bad ass solos, back and forth solos and so-on.  With only 45 minutes or so of music, the album plays really fast, and at least with me, made me get the other albums they have released to check out more of their sound.  Anyone who is familiar with this style will understand what I am trying to describe: A pretty even mix of Don Cabellero on a high energy infused alcoholic drink meets multi-genre music abilities of King Crimson.? (Ok King Crimson might be a little too high of skill for these guys, but more less same style.)

Instrumental releases like this, in my opinion, are good for almost any occasion:  background music while having company over, cleaning, driving to work, scoggin', you name it, it'll probably fit.  There are many many bands that play this style, or at least try to, but Rumah Sakit is a pretty decent one.  (Plus this album has a pretty awesome cover to boot!)

Official score- 3.25/5
 

Anekdoten- Gravity (2003)

I had higher hopes for Anekdoten before I heard this album.  Being a Swedish Prog./Psych/Art Rock group, I figured that they would blow me away; boy was I wrong.  I will say though that the music itself is actually pretty cool, but the vocals, oh man the vocals, suck ass.  I have always been turned off by vocals that seem to not go with the style being played musically, and Anekdoten is a perfect example of that.

Gravity, released in 2003, seems to have some awesome musicians playing, but the vocals are this indie-alternative type sound.  (I use Indie/Alternative in the most negative way for this review)  Honestly, they should have just done an instrumental release.  The music itself has lots of changes throughout the 8 tracks, but with these vocals, I still haven't made it through the 45 minutes worth of music.  If you took a really good modern prog. sound, mix in some cool space rockin' and then through in that off the wall European twist on avant garde music, then you'd have the music they play; but when you add in the 90's alternative rock type vocals, the music is ruined.  I understand that I can be way too harsh when critiquing vocal styles, but these vocals really do suck. 

With a different approach, I will say that there are probably lots of people who would enjoy this.  Anyone who is a fan of early David Bowie, or Jefferson Airplane or even the Grateful Dead or Genesis, will probably like this.  Me myself, I am not a fan of any those groups so take this review as you will.  I want to give props to the musicianship of this album, but like I have repeated throughout this review, the vocals totally kill it for me.  Get it if you want, but if you don't like it, then don't blame me.

Official score-2/5

OOIOO- Feather Float (1999)

I came across this band some years ago, when I was exploring some of the "related" offshoot bands of the Boredoms.  There's something about all female Japanese projects that seem to get the blood flowing.  Maybe its the usual high energy they produce or maybe its just the fact that, in your minds eye, you can see chirpy Japanese chics rockin' out to some crazy experimental Noise Rock tunes. Either way, OOIOO is a pretty decent project.

Like I said above, OOIOO is an all female 4 piece that plays highly contagious noise rock/experimentalism. Out of the different albums that I have heard, Feather Float is my favorite.  Feather Float is one of the more consistent albums that they have.  Just as The Boredoms, OOIOO can be pretty chaotic in structure and has a tendency to be pretty experimental.  (which I am totally ok with, but I realize not everyone can handle that.)  Feather Float has a lot of really catchy tracks and with the soft female vocals, and steady rhythms, its easy to fall into a trance.  Half of the tracks are really Boredom like, while the rest seem like experimental dance tracks.  I've never been to a live show in Japan, but all pics that I have seen, seem to be chalk full of energy, crazy outfits and tons of people; and with this release, I could see OOIOO garner that same type of live setting.  Feather Float has 11 tracks and is under an hour in running time, which makes this a great release.  To be more precise with a description- you can take the highly structured Boredoms songs, make the vocals all female, slow it down a bit then make it sound like a Japanese cartoon theme song, then you have Feather Float.

I have listened to this album a ton, and have had it for quite a long time now, and I still have not gotten sick of it. (I think it is currently on my MP3 player at this very moment.)  Some average music fans will not appreciate this style of music, but if you are familiar with the Boredoms or experimental rock/noise rock, then you'll really like this.  The album and band as a whole, is not aggressive, instead it is more melodic; so go get it, download it or buy it.  By the way.... if you live in France, either them or some off shoot side project is playing there sometime soon; just check out the link on their main page.

Official score- 4/5

Bardo Pond- Dilate (2001)

The first time that I was introduced to Bardo Pond was seeing them live. I remember watching them and enjoying them live, but felt like they weren't the liveliest of bands to see.  I did like the fact that they introduced a flute and violin into a modern psychedelic sound, but I figured that since I was anticipating Mogwai to perform after them, I was just getting antsy.  Well Dilate was the album that I got, after seeing them live, in order to check out what their studio recordings sounded like.

More often then not, it seems like a band is either better live vs their studio recording or vise versa, well, I think that Bardo Pond might just not be what I'm into.  I wasn't that impressed with them live, but wanted to give them a try, and I have heard three different Bardo Pond releases, and they all seem to him me with the same relatively stagnant sound.  I am not going to say that they are bad, I just find them pretty boring.  They have great song structure and really do a good job at this sort of modern day psychedelic/acid rock sound.  I like the fact that they throw in the flute and violin, it adds a twist of sounds that you don't usually hear with modern day experimental rock bands, add in the female vocals and you will have a good mix, for some, but not me.  I guess that maybe the music just didn't grip me enough.  Since seeing them live, which was many years ago, I have tried giving them chances, multiple times, as my taste changes; but none of those chances have led to a different opinion.  Dilate has 10 tracks, and lasts over an hour, which makes the album seem to last forever.  Now, there are some great parts to some of these tracks, but not enough to keep you anticipating more

This album, and probably the band as a whole, will speak to a different audience, that I am not a part of.  Like I said above, Bardo Pond is not a bad group, just not my style.

Official Score-3.25/5

Gallhammer- The Dawn of...... DVD (2007)

I was trying to think how I found out about Gallhammer, and after thinking about it, I still cannot remember.  It probably stemmed from one of my phases of trying to seek out new black metal projects, in order to beef up my collection.  I do remember my reaction when I found out about them: Hot Japanese chics playing black doomy metal?! Hell ya! Who could pass that up? Not me, that's for sure.

Gallhammer is a throwback to an earlier Black Metal sound, in vein of: Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Burzum, etc.  They are closer to a Doom Metal/ Sludge sound then Black Metal, but stylistically they are spot on with the pioneering Black Metal sound.  But, when you add hot Japanese ladies in face paint and theater blood, who play aggressive metal, its hard to not like it.  Musically the songs seem a little drawn out, if your expecting a faster Black Metal sound, but if you go into it thinking of Doom/Sludge, then you won't be disappointed.  This DVD has 6 different live sets, with 4-5 songs per set.  The video is clear and the music is just the same.  Alot of times, especially with metal DVD's, you never know what the video quality is going to be or the camera angles themselves.  I was really happy with the DVD, film/music quality, and nothing in the way of stupid interviews/ questions from whomever is shooting the video, which usually annoys the hell out of me.  The sets on this video have a good flow, and their live shows seem pretty entertaining.  Overall, this is a good DVD, and the music more or less reminds me of the early all female metal band- Derkata.

A really good Black/Sludge/Doom metal DVD, with all girl musicians.  Great film quality and music quality.  6 live sets with 4-5 songs each set, you can't go wrong with this.  Find online to download if you're interested, and if you're already familiar with Gallhammer, go ahead and buy it.

Official score- 3.75/5

The Rosenberg Trio- Roots (2007)

I'm a big fan of jazz, and I'll extend that even further and say that my favorite type of jazz is the gypsy style that Django Reinhardt pioneered.  Enter The Rosenberg Trio, with their fast acoustic gypsy guitar driven solos with great clarinet playing and wonderful double bass it shows that great jazz can be played fast, clean and greatly structured. 

The Rosenberg Trio, led by lead guitarist Stochelo Rosenberg is, without a better description, one of the best jazz trios today.  Roots, released in 2007, doesn't have even 1 track that lacks sheer greatness.  I can't say enough about this album.  Less than an hour long, Roots plays all the way through really fast.  Each track has perfect examples of skilled jazz song structure as well as top of the line ability.  If you're into music, or play it, there is a chance that you might feel envious of those bad ass jazz guitarists, and this album has musicians who you'd be willing to make a pact with the Devil to be able to mimic.  Every song on this album has solos that will blow your mind, on all the instruments being played, as well as a flow and energy that isn't easily matched.  My favorite track on this album is Last Minute Swing, which has an intricate flow of solos between the guitar and clarinet, and makes me feel their energy from the first strum of the guitar. 

The Rosenberg Trio are virtuosos, seriously, there are very few musicians that can portray this kind of skill; and to top it off, the instruments are all acoustic, so there is no way for them to "hide" behind any electric instrumentation.  There are many albums to choose from if you want to explore their sounds, and any one of them is a great place to start.  Roots just ended up being my favorite, although their album with Bireli Lagrene is a definite must-have as well.  Listen to them, see them live, download some of their pirated music online, whatever is your avenue, but do what you can to give them a try. 

Official score- 4.25/5