“Bitte Orca” – Dirty Projectors

I’ve been keeping this album up my sleeve for a while now, yet I’m still not sure about what I think about it. It’s a very twisted and disjointed form of pop and to date it hasn’t really caught me, though it has been an album that I’ve played a bit, because it is very relaxing and upbeat.

The album and the band have been pretty hyped and I’m still not sure what all this hype is all about but nonetheless, I’ll give the review a try and hope that I haven’t missed something.

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Dirty Projectors - "Bitte Orca"

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Dirty Projectors is a project that is the brainchild of frontman/creator Dave Longstreth, he has released seven full length albums prior to ‘Bitte Orca’, but is still not a big name. Anyway, what drew me to this band was the fact that they were from Brooklyn, over the past few years some of my favourite bands have come out from Brooklyn and it really is a place where music is exploding. For your information, ‘Bitte Orca’ is due for release on June 9th.

As I mentioned before, the album is very disjointed and experimental in nature but what they are trying to achieve is almost “indie-pop” music. I don’t want to lump it into a genre, especially “indie-pop”, because it’s a style of music that no other bands really achieve, what sets it apart from other bands is the fact that they are prepared to really experiment with style and sound. The other day in my review of The Temper Trap’s new album, I said that the band wasn’t pushing any boundaries genre-wise, well this album is. It does make the album feel modern as it’s a type of music that you’ve probably never heard, it’s similar to a lot of genres and you can lump it into one of them, but really the band and album is charting new ground and setting up other bands for years to come.

My favourite track on the album is ‘Useful Chamber’, at six minutes, it’s the longest song on the album, and utilises what I called before a somewhat disjointed sound. Changing tempo a few times really allows the song to remain interesting and in your mind, but what really makes it a really good song is the part where it explodes, with the addition of guitars and then withdraws again. It makes the song sound very up & down, but I think that’s something that makes this song and also this album so easy to listen to, it is a wierd thing to say, usually an album that’s so uneven is hard to listen to, but Dirty Projectors do it so well, you can’t do anything but enjoy it or at least admire it.

I think I’m one of those people who will admire ‘Bitte Orca’, I’m not totally caught by it and I didn’t enjoy it as much as a lot of other albums I’ve listened to this year. But what it does do, that a lot of the bands haven’t done this year, is break new ground genre-wise and really make music that is truly experimental and ground breaking. ‘Bitte Orca’ may not be an album that will be remembered as a great album but it may be one of the more influential albums of recent times.

For these reasons I’m giving it a 8/10, it something that everyone should listen to, but don’t expect it to be something that you will really enjoy, don’t get me wrong you may enjoy it, but don’t be diappointed if you don’t, as you might get more out of it, if you come in from a different angle.

“LP” – Discovery

This is going to be of the many reviews I’ll do over the next week. I’ll try for one a day, but it really depends on how many albums I listen to. There’s been a drought of sorts in the past week in terms of new albums and I’ve been saving some albums for the school holidays, which have come upon me quite quickly. I might even start these classic album reviews that my counterpart has been talking about.

Today I’m reviewing the debut album from Discovery, a side project for Rostam Batmanglij (Vampire Weekend) and Wes Miles (Ra Ra Riot), it’s called simply ‘LP’ and proves to be surprisingly surprising.

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Discovery - "LP"

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Last year there were a few bands that made their names, one of these “up & coming” bands was Vampire Weekend. They released their self titled debut and it was one of the years best albums. The band’s also set to release their second album by the end of the year, but let’s forget about that and focus on a side project of Vampire Weekend member, Rostam Batmanglij.

Discovery is, as I said before, surprising. While Vampire Weekend was indie pop, largely built around guitars, but ‘LP’ is built around a synthesizer and electronic drum beats. This is probably not so surprising if you have a look at what Rostam Batmanglij plays in Vampire Weekend, he plays the keyboard and also produces them, but nonetheless the sound is surprising if you go into this band with little prior knowledge.

Discovery have achieved a very electronic kind of music that verges on being pop and it could even pass as a pop band, if not for it’s slightly experimental nature. The first song and single on the album is called “Orange Shirt”, unlike a few of the songs on the album, the synths are not overwhelming and that’s something that is, to be honest, quite refreshing. Like all the songs one the album though, it’s very catchy especially in the chorus’ and this is defining characteristic of the band.

‘So Insane’ is one of the stand out songs, mainly because of it’s more industrial sound. It sounds and feels like it’s been constructed, rather than written, but it proves to be a song that grabs hold and is really memorable. The changes in tempo are also there to make it more compelling, and it largely succeeds in it’s mission.

The song that’s most interesting is ‘I Want You Back’, which is a interpretation/reworking of the Jackson 5 song, considering the recent passing of Michael Jackson, and the constant playing of this song, it’s very interesting and compelling. It’s an extremely good cover, but note the wording I used before, it’s more of a interpretation of the song rather than a straight cover, which is the strength of it.

‘LP’ is an album that easy to like, but also potentially easy to hate as well. I’m on the positive side, but it’s far from perfect and for that reason it’s probably not going to stay with me for too long, it’s a great effort and at times it’s really interesting, but overall it doesn’t do enough for it to be anything more than good.

So, in the end I’ll give it a 7/10.

“Conditions” – ‘The Temper Trap’ [Joint Review]

Well, I lied when I said I wasn’t going to review - that wasn’t The Enantiomorphic God, it was the enantiomorph mimicking my behaviour – so there, beat that one! I couldn’t resist, though. I managed to scrape through this week-end alive, just enough. The homework’s been a total bitch, but I’ve got most of it under the belt, so to speak.

[Eats pie]

No, it’s not emotional-eating…

"Conditions" - 'The Temper Trap'

In some ways, I’ll have to agree with my counterpart on this one. I think we were sorely disappointed with “Conditions” for the simple reason: we demanded EPIC.

“What constitutes epic?”

I think that’s a question we’ve all been asking ourselves for many years. I mean, when we listen to a single like “Sweet Disposition” we’re drooling on the sidelines, begging for more. We expect satisfaction, disappointment being the only exception. And it’s not that I don’t like “Conditions”, it’s got flaws like any other album when you look at it in fine-detail. In some respects, I don’t think there’s an album out there that’s universally loved by all. We’re all unique, we’re all individual, and we’ve all got different likes and dislikes when it comes to music. Otherwise we’d just have one genre… one horrible, unsophisticated genre…

… Probably pop…

… But that’s besides the point. ‘The Temper Trap’ have all the workings of a good-band, and this debut of theirs, “Conditions”, has got the potential to become O-so-much-more! Potential is what makes the world go round, peoples, and it’s this same potential that defines a band, that makes a band, and that’s the stuff of legends. ‘Queen’ had it, ‘ACDC’ have it, it’s as easy to manipulate as the force, guys…

[lifts computer with mind]

See!

And not that any of this should dissuade any of you from going out and listening, or even buying, “Conditions”, because, compared to some of the EP’s and debut’s I’ve listened to over the past six-months, “Conditions” has got some real uppers; conversely, just as many downers. I mean, you can see the potential in “Sweet Disposition” itself, “Science Of Fear” and “Love Lost”. They’re catchy, upbeat, the riffs are working, the vocals are brilliant. And although I think the lyrics leave a lot to be desired, they’re clean, they’re audible.

It’s a rare album for the simple sake, it grows on you. I’ve probably played it about ten-fifteen-times by now, and I just about understand the meaning of the universe. Well, not literally, just metaphorically – I understand the universe of “Conditions”, I understand the complexity of their greatest tracks, and the downfalls of the rest. Each and every song has its place, although at first glance, they seemed ill-performed. Michael Hodder said that genre-wise these guys weren’t breaking much of a boundary, and that’s about it – but if a band can pull of a decent pop-rock sound, they’re sure to make it big…

“Conditions” opens with “Love Lost” – the elec. organ/keyboard, the synth clap. It all brings you in, it’s all meant to start off soft. The pace is moderate, with the lyrics “A love was lost… but now we’ve found it…” It’s got the elements of “Sweet Disposition” in the music, it’s really easy to tell which tracks, by now, have ‘TTT’ written all over it. Sudden crescendos bring waves of high, while intimate vocals bring you in close, one-on-one. It’s the typical-track-template, I’m sad to say, that brings us “Love Lost”:

quiet + lyrics + sudden crescendo + loud finish = song 1

It works nearly 99.9% of the time, hence ‘Britney Spears’- that, and if you sleep with enough people, you can acheive anything!

[crickets sound]

“Rest” follows “Love Lost”, and I think it’s a weak following: “…. ooooooohoohhhhhh baby….” isn’t a great introduction to the track. The loud-aspect comes back in, and I think ‘TTT’ over-do it a bit here. We get the picture, you guys are fantastic, don’t flaunt it too much or you’ll pull a muscle. It’s not my particular favourite, I don’t quite know why, but it just doesn’t click with me…

“Sweet Disposition”

….. Oh…. “Sweeeeeeeeeet….. Dissssss….. po…. siition…..”

The riff, I can’t get enough of it. The voice, the lyrics. It all works. It’s what drew me to ‘TTT’in the first place, it’s that potential kicking in. Nothing’s overdone – there’s elegantly-simple-layers at work here. It’s got the click, it’s got the mojo, it’s got the force!

But, ‘TTT’ do it again – such powerful-mojo just doesn’t contrast well with tracks like “Down River”. It’s like listening to something ‘Jarvis Cocker’ concocted in a bath-tub. By now, if you think I like ‘Cocker’, you’re sorely mistaken. Simplistically, poorly-written lyrics plus an awful tune in the background just doesn’t work for me:

“…. Gooo… don’t stop…. Gooo… don’t stop…. Gooo…. don’t stop….”

‘TTT’ do it, and it’s a real off-put for the album’s entirety.

It happens throughout the album… one good, one bad – a song that works so marvellously, a song that works so poorly. “Soldier On” follows “Down River”, and it would have to be my favourite for the entire album. “Sweet Disposition” had me in awe, but “Soldier On”, I think, is ‘The Killers’ equivalent to the much neglected track “Goodnight, Travel Well”. Not so much because they sound similar, but because they have this really long intimacy between listener and singer, and then this explosion of sound.

Just the opposite, “Fader” brings back the elements of “Love Lost’s” keyboard/ elec. organ. Out come the “oooooohhhhs….” which ‘TTT’ are going to make famous. “Fools” isn’t much of a great track, so I’ll skip ahead to another favourite of mine:

“Resurrection” has this classic guitar-scratch in the background, that grows, that builds and builds and builds. It creates suspense. The vocals here work in tandem with the sounds, and the guitar that twangs in the distance is all about creating the upcoming crescendo. Then the “…. ohhhhhhh…. ohhhhhh.. ohhhhhhh’s….” come in, and set the scene. The elec. beat comes in, the scratch becomes unbearable, and it starts all over…. at the 3:26 mark, it explodes. The elec. guitat, the percussion, the bass, just flows on marvellously, and ends with the same haunting scratch/now-blip sound.

“Science Of Fear” is another great track. I’ve droned on about too many of them already, but this is an important one. It should have been first. It’s got the spark that “Conditions” needs to entice it’s listeners inwards. It’s got the simplistic layers, the lyrics, the elec. guitar and the percussion, and it shows all the capabilities of ‘TTT’ that should have been outlined from the beginning. Just as well, it could have worked in last position instead. In it’s place is the completely unnecessary “Drum Song”, an instrumental – it takes away the only thing ‘TTT‘ have that makes their music work; vocals. It’s a filler-track, and I’m disappointed with the ending.

Overall, the album, as I said, is like a bunch of uppers and downers. It’ll take you to the top, it’ll ride you to the bottom. You can replay it over and over, and there’ll still be those pitfalls no matter what. But if you’re willing to overlook these somewhat minor faults, and look a little on the bright-side, you’ll find that “Conditions” has some mainstream-making material, and heaps of potential to become a successful band in the not too distant future. With a little more time and some diligant effort, ‘The Temper Trap’ will have a follow-up twice as brilliant as this. A modest 3.8/5, it’s the potential I love, and considering some of the other ‘average’ bands out there at the moment, “Conditions” is a walk in the park.

Until when,

The Enantiomorphic God

“Conditions” – The Temper Trap (Joint Review)

I think my counterpart first got me onto this band and as soon as got to listen to their song “Sweet Disposition”, I knew from that point that they’d be a somewhat popular band. They’ve taken their time to release this debut album and as you’ll soon find out I think they would have benefited if they had have taken some more time as well.

You’ve probably heard them already, but regardless keep an ear out for this band…

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The Temper Trap - "Conditions"

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The Temper Trap is in my opinion the best up and coming Melbourne band and with ‘Conditions’, their first album they have made something that is extremely enjoyable to listen to.

Genre wise, they’re a a fairly generic mixture of pop and rock band, but they mix a little bit of organ and keyboards in. The bands strength is not in it’s ground breaking new genres, but rather in it’s song writing ability, the songs on the album are all really well written and at times infectiously catchy.

The first song on the album, “Love Lost”, starts with a very simple organ part, it gives you an indication on how the band approaches songs. They seem to build songs around small riffs or ideas and the result is songs that sound very simple, but also easily remembered.

You may have heard their first single “Sweet Disposition”, if you haven’t then you should definitely give it a listen, I guarantee it will be worth your while. It’s a got an opening that is somewhat borrowed from U2, but it’s transformed into something different to what U2 would ever think of doing, mainly because of the vocal style.

I also want to give a mention to the songs “Down River”, “Fader” and “Science of Fear”, because these songs make the album what it is, with out these the album would have lacked that something special.

I think I’ve talked enough about the positives of the album, now I’ll spend a little bit of time explaining why this album was a little disappointing for me and why it didn’t live up to my expectations.

Firstly, the band seem to have been too eager to record the album, I think a few extra months of writing would have made this album into an instant classic, but in the end some songs didn’t sound like they deserved to be on the album. I’m not saying those songs were bad, far from it, but if the album was to be amazing some of the songs would have to have been cut.

Secondly, it was always going to hard to make an albums worth of “Sweet Dispositions” and in reality that’s not possible, but the second single or the album didn’t really live up to my expectations. A lot of really good albums have great songs followed by other great songs, in the end I don’t think ‘Conditions’ has done that.

There’s not too much wrong with the album and the positives definitely outweigh the negatives, but if you were expecting something amazing from these guys then I think you’ll be in for a little disappointment. But after a week of listening to the album, I’m really starting to enjoy it for what it is and I do think it’s a seriously good album. Sure, the bands got a lot more potential, but you just can’t knock a good album too much.

The Temper Trap are a band on the move, ‘Conditions’ may be the album that breaks them even more onto the scene, but I’ve got a feeling their second album is the one to be waiting eagerly for. A definite 8.5/10.

The Bavarian Druglords – Upcoming Release

Fans of TBD will be delightfully surprised that rumours are spreading of a second TBD release, and to hear their new track, “Groove Alone”, fresh off the album, go to: http://www.myspace.com/thebavariandruglords

Courtesy: The Enantiomorphic God

“Great Surround” – ‘The Fatales’

It’s not as epic as I would like it to be, but nonetheless, it’s an album. It’s Friday, yes, that time of the week again: when the chugging of beer, the chaining of cigarettes-unt-smoke and the pre-mixed drinks just don’t quite satisfy. And I think it’s safe to say, it’s the end of a shocking Semester, in my opinion – two terms down, one to go, and a whole bunch of other crap for Year 12. VCE’s a bitch, peoples; I don’t think people ever truly appreciate what we put our children through, enough…

… So, I’m slightly sad to say, during my two-week ‘break’, which is actually more like casual/flexible homework-days, with lunch and a free breakfast, that I’ll be working my ass off until it’s sore and blue and talking. Yes, a talking ass. And, as a direct result, due to the lack of decent albums, a shortage of headphones, and singers, I’m putting my reviews on hold. There’s no definite answer as to whether the Joint Reviews will go ahead, and ‘hey’, I might even manage to put a review in if you guys are lucky and the albums are worth it.

But until then, it’s all just “Great Surround” and Michael Hodder’s magic fingers…

"Great Surround" - 'The Fatales'

It’s a difficult album, in my opinion. I would have much liked to review ‘The Temper Trap’ and their latest release, but found it wasn’t quite as ‘epic’ as I would’ve liked it to be. Their single-release, “Sweet Disposition”, was, in my opinion, mainstream-making. I’m sure “Triple J” will pick ‘em up, but that’s an album and a song for another review, on another day. Instead, ‘The Fatales’ bring you their full-length feature album, “Great Surround”.

It’s hard to place, in context with a genre, and to be honest, it’s not you’re average band. It’s eclectic in it’s music, but it’s no “Dark Night Of The Soul”. It’s like - how can I put it - backwards-avant-garde. In some respects, it’s playing with electric elements, wavy synth, pure synth, but then it’ll shift from full-blown synth, to classic-acoustic. Like with their use of violin. The 80’s synth is fleeting, hence the awkward genre-placement. It’s a generous mix of shoegaze-rock, meets bliss-rock. It has pop-like beats and rhythm, and although the lyrics aren’t quite as interesting as some other stuff I’ve heard in this glorious year of 2009, it’s still audible and clean.

A ten-track album, it lengths at about 40-min, and in my opinion, is rather short. Legends make it to the mark of about an hour, which I personally think an album should always aim for. And I know I’m very hard to please when it comes to length, whether a song’s too long, or too short, too simple, or too chaotic. It’s all a matter of balance and context, balance and context.

“… Tappa, tappa, tappa…”

If an album’s too short, you find yourself hanging on the ends of songs wanting more, or conversely, wondering why it’s even their to begin with. Some albums have minute-long intervals, tracks that are strangely placed, strangely strung, and uncannily lacking in taste. Whilst others will have long, out-done, lengthy tracks in the middle, or the end, that try to build some pace, or crescendo, or whatever. A true band should be able to tackle all these issues, make their music fit into each other like pieces in a puzzle, maintain listener-interest, and the likes.

It’s a bloody helluva-lot-of stuff to juggle, I know, and some muso’s get it, other’s think that music’s just a way of copping out of a real job. It’s music, it’s writing, it’s art – all these things make the world go round, people. Without this kind of stuff, the world’s got no soul.

Instead, “Great Surround” has me wondering whether or not it wants to be one thing or the other. Instrumental, acoustic, rock, avant-garde, pop, electronica. Perhaps this is the aim of the album, some songs are nostalgic, others are futuristic-time-warp to the year 2012 [not a big leap]! And hey, this could be a new genre, but I doubt it. What do you get when you take the first letter from each one of those separate-genres: IARAE

“FAIL”

[The Enantiomorphic God holds his head down in shame...]

It’s not to say that I don’t like the album, but it’s not desirable, there’s little replay value, and it’s hard to get attached. It’s like eating vegetables because their healthy, hell, you mightn’t like them, but you do it anyway. That’s what I feel like when I find a second-rate band. I listen, for the cause, but I dispose of just as quickly.

Let’s start off with the first track “Evergreen”, shall we? We’ve got building synth and violin here, a pop-like beat comes in, with the lyrics “… as the last of the lights went out, I drove out of the city…” with some piano. It’s a bizarre mix. Out rolls the snare, the violin comes back, the beat dumbs-down a little, the lyrics repeat. It’s simplistic, but it’s not elegant. The heavy kicks in, the electric synth comes back a little louder, the elec. guitar comes in, some bass appears. Damn, the list is endless.

There’s layers, and then there’s a pile of convoluted muck. It’s like, like:

“A fried-egg, chilli-chutney sandwhich…”

All the ingredients just don’t work, the bread sogs, the egg is delightfully unhealthy, and the chilli’s going to burn that ass of yours in the end. But, put it all together, and somehow, they manage to pull of a track that I generally like. I’m sounding critical, but to be honest, it’s probably the favourite of the album. It has to be heard, to be fully appreciated. And the way I write it, it doesn’t sound appealing.

But go out there, listen, try it, you might like it…

“Islands Of Fortune” rolls in, percussion, bass, electric. There’s a really good riff going here, a sense of isolation. The vocals here bring it all together. And what the first track had an abundance of, the second makes up for with uncanny minimalism. Damn, peoples, if you put the first and the second track together, they sound totally different. One’s got synth, the other has electric rock. If you made a person listen to one, and then the other, aside the vocals, the music is quite different.

“Eveningwear”, the fourth-track, brings that backwards-avant-garde into play, with some very nostalgic tunes here. It’s like walking into the middle of a 50’s horror flick or melodrama. The waver of violin, the noir-piano, the lack of voice. This is just an example of those 1-minute interval tracks that really piss me off. They’ve got little, if any, place on the album. Some are great, this is not. I’m going to draw your attention to the following track, “Vanishing Act”, which is like listening to ‘Aha’ [the creepy European one, with the track "Take On Me", and the "oooohhhh ahhhhh" bit]. The guy does exactly the same thing ‘Aha’ did in “Take On Me”…

“And it keeps me uuuuuup… Ahhh… Ooooooooooooooh… Ahh [gasp] Ooooooooooooh.”

There was a reason some bands died out during the 80’s, and some people don’t quite realise why. I won’t explain, it’ll waste your time.“Vanishing Act” is really poorly titled, the lyrics “And it keeps me up” recur far too often, and if the phrase “vanishing act” appears, it’s minor and somewhat unheard. The song is really electric, there’s hardly any acoustic here at all.

“Torches” brings us on our knees, it’s the final song. We’re supposed to be all mushied-up with the album, by now. But I was half-asleep by this point. Piano, tambourine, etc. I couldn’t get my head around it. “Great Surround” has the fascade of being ‘epic’, it masks itself with this eclectic-surrealism. Bliss-rock/dream-pop never did quite make it as a successful genre, in my opinion. ‘The Fatales’ are still something I would watch out for, but this album is a fine example of the term average. It has it’s highs, it has its lows, and is a disappointing end to my reviews for the holiday-break…

… When it comes to a rating, I’m going to have to be cruel and rate it a 2. Haha, it rhymes!

Until when,

The Enantiomorphic God [sits at his desk, the piles mounting, his hand sore and bleeding, shackled at the ankle, he now bids you Adieu!]

“Far” – Regina Spektor

Regina Spektor is one of those artists that you can’t help but like. I don’t really listen to much piano based music (with the exception of Ben Folds and to a small extent Sigur Ros), but Regina Spektor has something in her sound that makes the music feel really homely and personal. Yes, maybe the lyrics are a bit immature, but if you really take them in, there is a lot of depth to them.

I enjoyed Spektor’s first album, but to be perfectly honest I wasn’t exactly eagerly awaiting this new album. This changed though when I heard the first single, “Laughing With” on the radio, it caught me straight away and ever since I haven’t been able to get it out of my head.

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Regina Spektor - "Far"

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‘Far’ is Regina Spektor’s fifth studio album but she rose to fame after the release of her last album, so to a lot of people it will seem like a second album. She’s also toured with the likes of The Strokes and Kings of Leon, which is really interesting as I couldn’t see her opening for either act, due to a differing style/genre.

If you haven’t heard any of Regina Spektor’s music before, then the best way to describe her is a quaint female Ben Folds. It’s a bit of a generalisation, I know, but there are a lot of similarities between the two artists. For a start their lyrics are sometimes somewhat comedic and yet they both still have the ability to write some really sombre and sad songs (ie. Brick by the Ben Folds Five).

For me ‘Far’ was an album that had a few moments where the quality dropped, I’m not saying that those points were bad, but if you listen to the best 3 or 4 songs on the album, the rest doesn’t reach their quality. These highlights on the album are the songs I’m going to focus on, because when an album has tracks as good as ‘Far’ does, you know it’s probably going to be an extremely solid and enjoyable album.

As I’ve already said “Laughing With”, was a song that caught me straight away, the chord progression is very sombre and it was a bit unexpected, because at the time I didn’t actually know whose song it was, but I think you can definitely tell that it’s a Regina Spektor song. In the chorus’ the song gets more optimistic, I really like songs that are optimistic yet at the same time sad, I don’t know why but I just love the fact that music be made up of two totally opposite moods and yet still sound valid. I definitely recommend this song to anyone, I assure you, you’ll love it.

“Eet” is another sadder song and I’m not sure why I think these sad songs are the best on the album, but I’ve got a feeling that it’s got to do with the fact that musically, it’s where Spektor shines. “Eet” is probably the song where Regina Spektor’s voice is at its best, its changes a few times through the song and these changes compliment the changes in the song perfectly.

“Folding Chair” and “Machine” are also great songs and if you are going to listen to just a few songs on the album then these four are probably your best bet. The album itself hinges on whether the listener likes albums or whether the listener likes songs, if they like songs then you’re in for a real treat, but on the other hand if you’re partial to albums, then this is probably just better than good.

I don’t like giving ratings in my reviews for some reason, but I think this album probably needs one, I’ve been unsure about the album all week, but I think it’s somewhere between 7.5-8.5/10, depending on your mood at the time.

“Octahedron” – The Mars Volta (Joint Review)

I’m a Mars Volta fan and they’re one of my favourite bands, so obviously I was eagerly awaiting this album. The band had already said it was going to be their “acoustic album”, but they also said it wasn’t exactly acoustic, to quote Cedric Bixler-Zavala, “We know how people can be so linear in their way of thinking, so when they hear the new album, they’re going to say, ‘This is not an acoustic album! There’s electricity throughout it!’ But it’s our version. That’s what our band does — celebrate mutations. It’s our version of what we consider an acoustic album.“.

Their last album, ‘The Bedlam In Goliath’ was heavy and chaotic, and when you really think about it, it seems logical that the album following was going to be a bit “softer”.

The Mars Volta - "Octahedron"

‘Octahedron’ is the 28th album that lead guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez has contributed to in the past 6 years, in short that’s amazing and it really shows that he’s one of the best musical minds in the world. This new Mars Volta album shows a new side of Rodriguez-Lopez and it’s really interesting.

The Mars Volta have always tried to make music that pushes the boundaries, but even the most knowledgeable Mars Volta fan could not anticipate the direction they’ve taken with their new album. If ‘Bedlam In Goliath’ was about chaos, ‘Octahedron’ is about holding back. In fact, apart from the lead single ‘Cotopaxi’ (which sounds like a song that was written during the ‘Bedlam In Goliath’ sessions), the songs are totally different in style to anything they’ve ever done. There’s no unnecessary notes and every instrument is only used when needed.

The record starts with the song ‘Since We’ve Been Wrong’, it has a 2 minute lead up that’s only just loud enough for someone to hear. It’s really clever, because it does just enough to allow you to listen, and this “minimalism” of sorts is a theme that resonates throughout the rest of the album.

The album then takes a turn and ‘Teflon’ starts, it’s probably one of the louder songs on the album, but it’s still a slow song. It slowly starts to get more disjointed until the end when it’s just about to reach the point at which the song is totally disjointed. Again, this shows the band being minimalistic and instead of turning the song into a ten minute jam, they hold back, just a little bit and this changes the song entirely.

I’m a bit 50-50 with the fifth track, ‘Cotopaxi’, I mean, it’s a great song, but I’m a bit unsure about whether the song fits in with rest of the album. It’s a lot louder and fast-paced than the rest of ‘Octahedron’ and it sounds like a ‘Bedlam In Goliath’ song. But in it’s defence, I didn’t really think it was out of place until after about 5 listens, so maybe my thoughts are wrong. It certainly injects a bit of energy into the album, which causes the album to be extremely easy to listen to in full, which is a characteristic of all great albums.

‘Octahedron’ is an album that compliments the Mars Volta catalogue perfectly, it’s a step away from the sound that we all know the Mars Volta can make, but it has something different, which should add something to the band’s live performances.

Overall, it’s an album that possibly doesn’t reach the heights of ‘Frances The Mute’ and ‘De-Loused In The Comatorium’, but there’s something about ‘Octahedron’ and I really like it, it’s different but it’s still unmistakeably Mars Volta. In my opinion, it one of the years best so far and I’m not sure there’ll be an album that will surprise me more.

The Mars Volta are also preparing for the release of their new live album, which will be taken from their ‘Frances The Mute’ and ‘Amputechture’ era shows, it hasn’t been given a release date yet, but expect it to come by the end of the year.

If you’re a fan of At The Drive-In then you’ll probably be jumping up and down at the moment, because there have been talks about a possible reformation of the band. I’m guessing they were approached by the people behind ‘Coachella’ and if the talks go well, then I’m sure there’ll be ensuing shows.

“Octahedron” – ‘The Mars Volta’ [Joint Review]

I told you we had some aces up our sleeve: we’ve both been – I think – a little eager to get this album down-pat. Not necessarily because ‘The Mars Volta’ is generally a top-notch band, and their music is usually of an exceptionally high-quality calibre, but because the album itself is a massive ’shift’ from the usual ‘Volta’ we’re all used to. Now, to be totally honest with everybody, I’ll set the records straight: I’ve put ‘indicators’, like ‘usually’ and ‘generally’ in those sentences previous, to hint slightly at the fact that this is probably the first ‘Volta’ album I’ve been able to really get into. Suffice to say, their ‘experimental’ stuff was like listening to a cat-on-a-rack, with some electricity and a bottle of bourbon.

I do enjoy some difference from a band, I do enjoy a little experimentation here and there, now that I come to think about it, maybe there is a line to draw in the sand. But ‘Volta’ overstepped a boundary I think very few bands have gone over, and what’s more surprising, they’ve managed to pull themselves out of it willingly in “Octahedron“, and still managed to be loved by millions if not more. Some of their previous stuff, “Holy Zombie-Jesus” guys, I think that just about sums it up there…

"Octahedron" - 'The Mars Volta' (album art pending*)

Overall, I think ‘Volta’ diehards were a little miffed, and a little disappointed. I know for a fact that Michael Hodder thought it was missing something – if my memory serves [it wasn't heavy enough?] - perhaps for the first time, it had lost that experimental-spark they’ve had for albums past. It’s that same spark that’s kept ‘Volta’ at arm’s length, for me. It’s hard to get attached to their music and fully appreciate it, and if nobody had told me that “Octahedron” was their latest feature, I probably would never have noticed…

This would have to be the first real progressive rock band that can define this specific genre. It’s gone beyond the simple elements of rock, ditched alternative a little way back I think, and went straight to the experimentation.

“… So, this is what is meant by progressive rock,” The Enantiomorphic God scratches his temple, confusedly.

I mean, so many bands can be pigeon-holed into so many genres and sub-genres, to such an extent, where if they utilise one sound, or even hint at another genre, they’re immediately a part of it. It’s one downfall for www.last.fm, their genre’s are a little vague, so I usually have to make up my own mind on which way the wind’s blowing, if any. “Octahedron” has the progressive rock elements, perhaps, dumbed-down a little – sure, if progressive rock is what I’m thinking it is: rock with some zest of lemon and experimentation. If you’re expecting ‘Volta’ to come blazing onto the scene with this whacked-out guitar-solo, with some bizarre instrumentation, I’m sad to say, you’ll be disappointed on occasions.

… But other than that?

WHAT A BLAST OF AN ALBUM!

I’ve been playing it non-stop for over a week. When I get a spare moment, I bang on “Octahedron”and immerse myself in elec. guitar. It’s so unique, I haven’t heard an album quite like it for some while. However…

… Back in the days of The Enantiomorphic God, when the sultry listenings off Limewire were all that sufficed a sad and lonely individual, he came across, one day, a band named ‘Sonata Arctica’ – I believe that’s the correct spelling. It might be worth your research, but the sounds I’m hearing off “Octahedron” have reminiscent-values with some of the stuff ‘Sonata Arctica’ have had all along, minus the speed. And I’m not trying to be negative, it’s just whenever I listen to “Octahedron”, ‘Sonata Arctica’ pops into my head with “Wolf & The Raven”. The vocals are similar, and songs from either have uncanny likeness to each other at times. So, if you’re unsure of “Octahedron”, and can’t be bothered sampling it elsewhere, and you’ve actually heard of ‘Sonata Arctica’, you’ve got something to go on. Both bands have some solid music, no doubt, I just couldn’t help but joint the dots, peoples…

… Somebody has to…

[The Enantiomorphic God finishes a picture of a bucket and spade, loosely drawn with black pen]

Now that I’ve shoved ‘genre’ out of the way, and I’ve got a comparison for you guys to work on, I’ll move on to the music itself. And, overall, it’s hard to dislike any of the tracks that ‘Volta’ have lined up for you. The album opens with “Since We’ve Been Wrong”, a slow and subtle beginning that takes a few moments to heat up. As the synth slowly builds, growing louder and louder, you have the desire to crank up the sound full-bore until you can actually hear something properly.

Don’t.

It’s that slow and soft beginning that makes a great beginning, it’s like listening to ‘Vangelis’ in ‘Bladerunner’ as “Rick Deckard” drives off into the distance, to “Tyrell Corp”. When the guitar kicks in at the 1:36 minute mark, you’re in ‘Volta’ town. The lyrics: “Do you remember how you wore that dress?” creep in unexpectedly. The delicate nature of this song makes it so desirable, so intimate. Just the synth, building, building, the elec. guitar/s, and a singular voice in the midst of this:

“Since We’ve Been Wrong” – 2:55 mark.

More and more instruments come into that fake-crescendo, and die off just as quickly. Back come the lyrics at the end of the first chorus, back comes the elec. guitar/s, with some added body. And at 5:12, the percussion comes in, with some bass, and it’s finger-licking good. The track tops off at 7:12, and it’s all about building that suspense, keeping you hangin’ in there, waiting, waiting, waiting, BANG! Silence is a powerful ally in an album, especially at the beginning, more-so at the end.

Following this masterpiece, my personal favourite for the entire album, “Teflon”. We’re in heavy-town, there’s no silence here, out comes the beat, the percussion, the symbols, the elec. guitar/s, and the voice. Layers, layers, layers, building, building, building to: “Let the wheels burn, let the wheels burns, stack the tyres to the neck, with the body inside…” [lyrics pending*]. What makes it so interesting is the hinted-instruments in the background, and although I’ve yet to name any of them, it’s worth having a keen ear to pick them out. ‘Volta’ still have their grass-roots, but I think “Octahedron’s” broken the mould a bit in context with previous albums.

I could literally go through each and every song, they’re all so wonderful. But I’ll skip ahead to the middle, “With Twilight As My Guide”. The gentle pick of guitar, the vocals/lyrics here are magnificent. ‘Volta’ sure keep you enthused. It’s what makes a great album, if you’re hooked after the first and second, and still want to hear more, the middle has tracks so well placed. Everything flows, there are contrasts between heavy and soft to “shake-it-up”. I have a feeling that my counterpart might like “Cotopaxi”, it brings back some classic speed and classic power that has been somewhat lacking in the tracks previous, some really heavy layers here, and a great song to include in context with “Octahedron’s” entirety.

I won’t waste any more of your time with the other tracks, although I’d like to: I’ll jump straight to the last track, “Luciforms”, and it’s playing with the same synth that “Since We’ve Been Wrong” had. It’s a slow beginning, it’s again, intimate. It doesn’t build, but instead stays steady. The flicker of ‘Vangelis’ synth wavers unexpectedly, and every second feels like a lifetime of the Earth. Some noise slowly builds in the background, and the lyrics “how much do you make…”come in distorted with the subtle use of percussion. An explosion of sound and heavy come onto the scene at 2:09 with “… seems like I been running from your trenchant memory…” It juxtaposes nicely with the opener, and is a fantastic end to a fantastic album…

But, it’s all in the listening. For some, it might be a ‘listen-before-you-buy’ scenario, although the diehards might forgo this unnecessary action. It’s definitely converted me into a follower, and when the album packs the shelves [if it hasn't already], I’ll be there to buy a copy. It’s a nice addition to your CD collection – if you have any – and you probably won’t regret buying it in the long-run. It has tons of replay value, and it’s going to get a 4.89999999 outta 5. An eight-track album, I can’t find anything wrong with it, but I know I’ve been handing out 5’s a little too easily. For future reference, the next album that manages to get a 5 outta me will have to leave me gnawing at my own arms begging for more…

So.

Until when,

The Enantiomorphic God

“Ten Makes A Face” – ‘When Saints Go Machine’

It feels like I’ve just come back to Highly Evolved after a nice, long holiday. And, as a matter-of-fact, I have. Last week’s ‘exam-week’ was a ball, and with the GAT and George Clooney, we had an absolute blast. I’d like to pass-on to the Australian-Victorian readers that a surprising 7-10% of essay/exam papers managed to include Clooney in their argument, somewhere [and how, you ask, do I know such details? Ask the info-guru, Michael Hodder - it's the old, "a-friend-of-a-friend-of-mine" scenario, I imagine]. In the midst of bees and possessions, cheers to those people. And for the other 93-90% of Australian-Victorian readers who participated in the awful-gathering, and who shunned the messiah-returneth, George Clooney, shame on you:

I managed to draw a caricature of the man, for God’s sake – it might have cost me half-an-hour, but damn, peoples, let’s take this prank seriously!

“Resistance is futile!”

As the Borg might say…

… Distracted, much: you came here for the music, and you’re wasting that precious life-force of yours called existence, life and soul. I know I’m just reiterating what I’ve said for the past few weeks in my reviews, and I’m sure my counterpart would agree, that the music forefront has died completely. I was just scrolling through the endless albums, and the extent some artists will go to for coverage: nudity, obscenity, foul-language and the likes.

“… And God was happy.”

… But the music sucked. I’ve been, to some extent, on a miniature quest myself, looking for some worthwhile psychedelica, although the search is fruitlessly painful. And in the meanwhile, I’ve noticed an influx of pop, folk, alternative and techno. It’s not that I have much of a problem with that, it’s just when they’re all together, it’s a bloody pain in the ass. My “NOT_WORTH_IT” folder for reviews is mounting on 4-gig. And in amongst the wreckage, this week, I came across a polished piece of metal, the equivalent of a fifty-year-old bottle of Brandy, the golden-cog in the machine. I’ve decided to limit my Friday-Reviews to a single album, since Michael Hodder and I agreed to do some Classic Album reviews, etc [which will be underway in the weeks to come, I suspect]…

"Ten Makes A Face" - 'When Saints Go Machine'

“Ten Makes A Face” has some of the best contemporary 80’s-reminiscent synth I’ve personally seen to date. Although I’ve been ‘criticised’ by my partner for utilising the information provided on www.last.fm, I still find them worthy enough to trust, even at the risk of my own foolishness. Some obscure bands are quite difficult to find openly on the net, otherwise. Hailing for Copenhagen, Denmark, these guys define the epitome of European pop. It’s like a Danish version of ‘Passion Pit’, with a twist of lemon, and a hint of sugar. ‘When Saints Go Machine’ is a four-piece ensemble at the centre of Scandinavian pop-culture, and I’ll stake my reputation on the line: I can see why. Formed back in ‘07, these ‘youngin’s’ should be on their way to success…

A ten-track album, “Ten Makes A Face” has some exceptionally well-strung music. Great lyrics, ‘Scissor Sisters’/'Passion Pit’ vocals at the highs, different otherwise; some infectious rhythm, off-tune synth and a barrel of other monkeys sure to entertain. From start to finish, it’s one of the rare, unified albums that manages to pull off - song after song - hit after hit. I really do mean it, guys, “Ten Makes A Face” is the kind of album that’s sure to attract some attention in the not-too-distant future. If you’ve been following ‘Passion Pit’, recently, they’ve surged out onto the Australian music forefront more than just quickly; think of some exploding adjectives, like exploded.

To be honest, I only just came across “Ten Makes a Face” last night, and I fell in love with it. No joke, there was wine, there was laughs, there was a click, a moonlight serenade here, some sexy-dancing there. And at a 35-min listen, you’ll be begging on your hands a knees for more. Length-wise, it’s the only real criticism – it’s too short!

But I’ll quote from my all-time favourite British comedy, “Red Dwarf”

“… ['When Saints Go Machine'] make love like a Japanese-meal; small portions, but so many courses…”

And, if this were a short review, which I doubt it is, that would just about sum it all up there. Wrong, peoples. I’m going to start from the top and work my way down, as is appropriate for such a situation. “Pinned” opens with the lyrics “… We draw diamond rings…” in the absence of sound. The resonating vocals work so effectively, that they could almost be the song in its entirety. There are so many layers working so fantastically well. But it all just get’s better. You know you’ve found a good song when you just can’t stop moving to the beat: at the forty-second mark, the beat explodes into your ears. You’ve been kept on edge for just enough time, that the surprise of synthetic percussion is like a delightful slap-in-the-face!

“… Johnny’s out of his mind, he smashed his radio…” – “Pinned”

I absolutely love it, instant classic qualities, elegant simplicity – it’s why I listen to music, and it’s why I got into the non-mainstream reviewing system. An excellent pick for the opener, it’s got that quiet intro, that blaring beat that just can’t help but attract you, like bees to honey, you’ll be stuck. This is definitely the song you’ll be playing over and over again…

“Fail Forever”, featured as ‘When Saints Go Machine’s’ single prior to the release of this full-length feature, along with “New Elvis”, flows on marvellously from “Pinned”, and it replaces that infectious beat with looped/elec.-violin. I’ve only reviewed a handful of looped-track albums, albums that use musical recordings spanning only a few seconds, and repeat them over and over to make a song. You’ve all heard it, big in techno, trance and a handful of electronica bands. It’s difficult to find music that utilises loops, that’s worth listening to, or even reviewing, because after a while, that repetitiveness really wears off on you, and the song/s lose their spark. Some bands make an exception, for the simple reason, they include lyrics, vocals, or multiple loops to create layers that keep the listener enticed. If electronic music has a failing, it’s loops, some bands manage to overcome the boundary, others fail miserably…

‘When Saints Go Machine’ have audible lyrics, and shifting vocals that dumb-down that predictability. “New Elvis”, the third track, has that repetitive beat, and elec. guitar, but it works so well because the vocals are so amazingly sung. They bounce about, they echo, they’re loud and they’re soft. “You Or The Gang” works in almost the same way…

“… Turn your lights out…” – “You Or The Gang”

“Spitting Image” brings back that thick, oozing beat from “Pinned”, and finally we come across some ‘Scissor Sisters’/'Passion Pit’ vocals on the highs. The distortion adds, but overall, it doesn’t quite beat the opener. “Pick Up Your Tears And Run” has some interesting vocals that contrast a majority of the album, with varying “Oh’s”, layered on top of each other, reminiscent more of an instrument rather than a human voice. The song shifts halfway, and a metallic beat comes in with some wavy synth. A contrasting track in comparison with the album, with conflicting elements in between; definitely worth a listen.

What I want to highlight, what I want to stress, is the last track, most importantly – none of this six-minute stuff, no. A short, quick-to-the-point 2-minute thriller. It’s got all the workings of all the other songs, and makes for an interesting ending. Although it’s a little open for me, it hasn’t got the fundamentals of an end-track that I’ve heard before, it doesn’t build, it just has layers that go until the end, and finishes abruptly. It’s notable because of this, but it’s not particularly lovable. It’s like…

“… So, are you going to invite me in for coffee?” The Enantiomorphic God asks hopefully, leaning forward.

“… Uh… Um… I’m out of coffee,” When Saints Go Machine ends, shutting the door in The Enantiomorphic God’s face.

“FAIL!” shouts a loud, intrusive voice from above.

“Shut up, conscience,’ The Enantiomorphic God whispers…

All in all, it’s probably the best album I’ve heard in two-weeks, and I’ve only been listening for a few days. It’s easy to get into, and easy to leave, easy to come back, and at the same time, difficult to forget. I recommend, boy do I recommend. If you’ve been musically deprived for near to a month, ‘When Saints Go Machine’ is like a tiny oasis in the desert. A generous four-stars from me, catchy, memorable.

Until when,

The Enantiomorphic God