Track Roundup: August

I would have liked to have posted to the blog a bit more during August, but I have been struck with a problem/blessing. At this point every time I open my computer I immediately go straight for The Witcher, more well known for the later 2 games. I've been reading the books, and my next step was delving into the games. I have a thing for older Fantasy games and this one definitely takes the cake. It's very rare for me to get so completely absorbed in a game that I almost don't want to finish it, but that has been my experience with this game. So I am sorry to anyone remotely interested for not posting more, but also not sorry cause I've been having monstrous(haha) fun...

Travis Scott - R.I.P. SCREW 

(Selected Track from ASTROWORLD: Released August 3rd on Grand Hustle Records)

     One of the most anticipated Hip-Hop albums for at least a year or so has been ASTROWORLD, the mystery and anticipation surrounding the inevitable release date of this album has been vital in it's marketing campaign. An unfortunate drawback of this however is that, the album could never really live up to the hype. Personally I like this album more than any other Travis Scott album so far, and there are a lot of great songs on this album. But really, once you've heard one Travis Scott song you've heard them all.

     "R.I.P. SCREW" is one my favourite songs on the album. Meant completely to honour deceased Houston Hip-Hop legend DJ Screw. The song is an ethereal hazed out ride accompanied by a beautiful melancholy beat, Travis Scott and Swae Lee share vocal duties and are equally layered in Scott's trademark auto tune. spliced throughout are clips from interviews with DJ Screw, and pieces of news coverage regarding his death. It's a great track on a pretty good album, and while I was thinking about reviewing ASTROWORLD I decided against it because I didn't have much to say about it, I liked it... That's pretty much it.

High on Fire - Electric Messiah

(Single from Electric Messiah: October 5th on eOne Music)

     Some may call this a false classification for High on Fire's place in the never ending Metal sub-genre tree, but I consider them to be straight up, no holds barred, Heavy Metal. Many bands classified as "Heavy Metal" today are either emulating the sound of past bands or end up themselves lumped in with an extremely specific and exclusive sub-genre. But it's not just fans who perpetuate the sub-genre overclassification, I've heard bands label themselves "True Metal" and I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes out of my head.

     That being said, High on Fire are one of the few of these very basic and non-complex bands that really get it. They don't care about what people want from them, they just deliver what they want to hear. Matt Pike, the band's frontman has always reserved High on Fire for the raw and powerful, while Sleep his other band has been classified as one of the progenitors of "Stoner Metal", though in High on Fire the lyrics reflect bits of Stoner Metal. The song itself though is a very simple and galloping Motorhead-esque one which never loses pace, Pike's vocals are shouted with almost as much vigor as Lemmy Kilmister himself and there's a wonderfully fuzzed-out guitar solo halfway through. Simple song, good song.

The Surrealist - Mira

(Unattached Single)

     Instrumental music has to really catch my ear to be interesting to me, for whatever reason ambient, jazz, classical, and film scores can always connect with me very easily. Though instrumental music with guitars, drums, and instruments moreso associated to be accompanied by vocals is harder for me to enjoy on just a surface level. Bands like Animals as Leaders and Goblin are exceptions though.

     The Surrealist probably fills the same gap that Animals as Leaders do if I am being comparative, but this first track I've heard from the one man band has been enough to pique my interest. "Mira" is a very pretty and syncopated nylon guitar track with an ambient soundscape behind it. The little electronica tics that happen throughout keep it interesting in it's short run time. I very much hope there is more of this kind of music from them on the way.

George Clanton - Make it Forever

(Selected Track from Slide: Released August 20th independently)

     Every time I do one of these lists, I end up finding an artist I really like and that is what has happened here. George Clanton I suppose you could say, belongs to the vaporwave aesthetic but is far superior to the standard delivery you may get from the genre.

     If you just go to the bandcamp page I linked and take a quick look, you will see just how 90's everything is outfitted. The music is just the same, "Make it Forever" is a wonderful song taking notes from 90's new wave and even, in a very weird way some of U2's late 90's/early 2000's music. There is a very airy and summery quality to this music and I will definitely be checking out the album a bit more.

Unanimated - Of Fire and Obliteration

(Selected Track from Annihilation: Released August 10th on Century Media)

     Metal music, mostly Death and Black metal have one thing in common that one may not expect. Some of the most serene and pretty acoustic or piano music can come from these genres by way of interludes. Sort of palette cleansers, many bands do this and there are many great examples: Morbid Angel's "Desolate Ways", Ensiferum's "Mourning Heart", and Opeth's "Silhouette". One thing I haven't heard however, is a track like this that still contains harsh vocals. This is why I was drawn to this song off of the Swedish Black Metal innovators.

     "Of Fire and Obliteration" fits kind of strangely on the band's new EP Annihilation, while usually an acoustic song like this might be a bookend at the front or back of an album of this style, it is wedged in the middle amongst only 3 other songs. You can tell Unanimated were quite proud of this song, and they should be. Acoustics lead into a layered group of baritone singing and black metal growling, all fading in from the back. It makes for a very interesting sound, further spurred on by a horns section and military march drums. It ends up sounding very epic and grand. Very cool song, and maybe my favourite on this list.

Lamp - 夢の国 (Place in my dream)

( B-Side Single: Released July 23rd on Botanical House)

     Including this song from Lamp, a Japanese Soul/Pop band is meant firstly for the reason that it is a great song, and second to reflect some of the types of music that I've been finding myself enjoying more and more. Japanese Soul music is quite seriously some of the funkiest music I've heard and it's great. Lamp are a band who have been doing this for a while from my understanding, and it really does show. Primarily a Jazz band, they feature two singers and 4 maybe 5 members of the accompanying band. The singers are both a man and a woman, who often work in tandem off of each other trading hooks and choruses. Though I can't understand Japanese, there is no need for lyrics here as the music is just so pleasant. I highly encourage checking out this band.

Hissing - Eulogy in Squalor

(Single from Permanent Destitution: October 26th on Profound Lore Records)

     Death Metal is definitely having a sort of resurgence of style at the moment. As opposed to writing memorable riffs, well-thought out song structures, and other trademarks of a great rock song, many Death Metal bands today are focusing on walls of oppressive sound and tangled webs of barely discernible music. It may seem as though I am not a fan of this kind of music, well I am when it's done well. Tomb Mold's recent album Manor of Infinite Forms was an album that tried to verge between the two styles of traditional, and more dissonant and it just didn't really work for me. So hearing a band like Hissing do it well and still retain recognizable style is refreshing.

     I love both the name Hissing and the accompanying album cover as well, taken from their upcoming debut LP. Simply put, "Eulogy in Squalor" and these two things aforementioned fit very well together. Bearing quite a few similarities to Australian band Portal, Hissing have a similar lack in song structure. It really is like one 6-minute long movement that veers in every direction imaginable. I have never been able to get into Portal, but I already like Hissing from this one song I've heard from them. In anticipation of Permanent Destitution, I might end up trying to break through Portal's eldritch web of horror to hear some more like this. 

Torchlight - Depths of Unknown

(Selected Track from The Long Quest: Released August 13th on Dark Age Productions)

     I've already done a bit of a feature on some Dungeon Synth in my Bandcamp showcase, but I always love finding more of it. I usually use more quiet and minimalist music to read with, and Dungeon Synth is perfect when you're a bonafide Fantasy nerd like me. The great thing about it is you can buy several albums for under $10 most of the time, and along with that you know that the person who made it loves what they make as much as you might. That's how I look at it.

     I usually look for more current stuff when I'm looking to start reading again. Now that I'm fully stuck into House of Chains: the 1,100 page 4th volume of the Malazan: Book of the Fallen series, I needed something new to accompany. I instantly was drawn to this by the corny cover and very D&D Tabletop band logo(this may not make sense, but that's okay). "Depths of Unknown" is just one of the tracks I love from this. It builds with synths and processed drums until it becomes a rousing and melancholy Gregorian chant. Though this album does have the "basement recording" problem of not being mixed too well, it is still very enjoyable at lower volumes.