A Year in Summary - 2012, Parts 2 & 3: Best in Show / Albums of the Year

With 2012 rapidly drawing to a close, The Professor casts his mind back and picks out some of the highlights of the year. Songs, albums, artists ... it's all here. A big THANK YOU to anybody / everybody who has read my blog this year and I hope to make 2013 an even brighter better place for us die-hard music fans. Watch this space! Salud!

Electik Electrik Presents The Best In Show Awards 2012

Best Debut Album: Royal Thunder – CVI

This was the hardest fought category of the lot. A good debut album is a pleasant introduction to a band or artist that you will grow to love. Royal Thunder's CVI is so much more than that. It was like witnessing a fully-grown person emerging from the womb – beautiful in a way but fucking shocking in many others. Mlny Parsonz, Lee Smith, Josh Coleman, and Josh Weaver have proven their caliber from day one. Will this have set the bar impossibly high for album number two? Only time will tell but I will be eagerly anticipating the outcome either way.

Runners Up: Storm Corrosion – Storm Corrosion, Pallbearer – Sorrow & Extinction

Best Comeback: Soundgarden

2012 was the year that Soundgarden crossed the line from nostalgia act running out the clock on the reunion tour circuit to full-blown shit-kicking rock band (again). Reasonable doubts had been raised about how well a band that built their reputation around powerhouse live performances would fare as they approached middle age. Their response was King Animal, an album that taught us not to be such cynical jerks all the time.

Moral Victory of the Year: John Frusciante

In 2010 guitarist/singer/songwriter/freakazoid John Frusciante announced that he had parted ways with Grammy winning act The Red Hot Chili Peppers, replaced by his own understudy Josh Klinghoffer. To 99% of music fans that pretty much doomed him to obscurity, because if you aren't in a famous who cares, right? Such attitudes tend to obscure the fact that he has been making music outside of the Chilis since 1994 (twelve albums and counting, along with two as Ataxia, and numerous Mars Volta collaborations besides). RHCP's last album, I'm With You – their first without the guitar wizard since 1995 – literally bored me to tears, whereas Frusciante's PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone continued to push the envelope and freak people the fuck out. RHCP, 0, John Frusciante, 1.

Musician of the Year: Godforbid

To this very day I maintain that it is a travesty that neither That Handsome Devil, or their eccentric frontman Godforbid, receive the international acclaim that they so dearly deserve. Godforbid has been a busy boy in 2012. First of all, That Handsome Devil released a free EP based on Disney's The Jungle Book and followed that up with a superb Pogues cover for Christmas. Godforbid's hip-hop collective Alaskan Fishermen released their long-overdue second album. Then as a solo artist he dueted with songstress Kendra Morris and released American Style Cardboard in collaboration with New York DJ Doc Delay. Congratulation, Godforbid, you have raised the bar for sarcastic, anti-social weirdos everywhere. I tip my hat to thee.

Best use of a Song in a Videogame: The Heavy – 'Short Change Hero' (from the intro of Borderlands 2)

You and three strangers are riding a train through the frozen wastes of planet Pandora, speeding towards the promise of adventure and untold riches. It becomes apparent that all is not as it seems as heavily armed robots storm the train cars and all hell breaks loose. This is the bleak and action-packed opening to Borderlands 2, a game packed full of humour and guns of ridiculous proportions. What makes the whole sequence so memorable are the spaghetti western strains of 'Short Change Hero' that ring throughout. It is as if The Heavy (best known for that 'How Do You Like Me Now?' song from every comedy movie trailer in the past three years) penned the perfect tune to accompany this very sequence in 2009 - years before the game was even made.

Runner Up: Incinerating the marijuana plantation in Far Cry 3 to Skrillex's 'Make It Bun Dem'

Best in Metal

Pallbearer – Sorrow & Extinction

Nachtmystium – Silencing Machine

Deftones – Koi No Yokan

Best in Prog

Storm Corrosion – Storm Corrosion

Ancestors – In Dreams and Time

Rush – Clockwork Angels

Best in Hip Hop

Doc Delay/Godforbid – American Style Cardboard

Death Grips – The Money Store

JJ Doom – Keys to the Kuffs

Best in Rock

Graveyard – Lights Out

The Men – Open Your Heart

Smashing Pumpkins – Oceania

Best in Funk & Soul

Galactic – Carnivale Electricos

Nick Waterhouse – Time's All Gone

Bobby Womack – The Bravest Man In The Universe

Best in Alternative

Mark Lanegan – Blues Funeral

John Frusciante – PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone

Grinderman – Grinderman 2 RMX

Best in New Zealand Music

Left or Right – Buzzy

Delaney Davidson & Marlon Williams – Sad But True

Logic Defies Logic – Logic Defies Logic

And finally, without any further ado, Eclectik Electrik's best albums of 2012

#10 Crippled Black Phoenix – (Mankind) The Crafty Ape

 

# 9 Tame Impala – Lonerism

#8 Band of Skulls – Sweet Sour

#7 Muse – The 2^nd Law

#6 Mars Volta – Noctourniquet

#5 Soul Savers – The Light The Dead See

#4 Royal Thunder – CVI

#3 That Handsome Devil – The Jungle Book EP

#2 Baroness – Yellow & Green

#1 Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Piñata

 

A Year In Summary - 2012, Part 1: My favourite songs

With 2012 rapidly drawing to a close, The Professor casts his mind back and picks out some of the highlights of the year. Songs, albums, artists ... it's all here. A big THANK YOU to anybody / everybody who has read my blog this year and I hope to make 2013 an even brighter better place for us die-hard music fans. Watch this space! Salud!

2012 was the year that Spin Media (in their infinite wisdom) declared the album to be a dead format. They really should have told that to the thousands of artists planning to release a record in 2013 because, you know, apparently nobody wants them to. Underneath that very trite statement there is a small nugget of truth: not all great songs come from uniformly great albums. Sometimes an album (or even a band) will only be remembered for one particularly outstanding track. Here I have compiled five stand out tracks from this year's crop of offerings that continue to tickle my fancy.

#5: Muse – 'Survival' (from the album The 2^nd Law)

I find it hard to put a finger on exactly why Muse's latest album just clicked with me when The Resistance left me feeling so underwhelmed. Whatever they did I just can't get enough of their wacky 21^st century nonsense. When picking a “best song” from The 2^nd Law my gut feeling was the outrageously funky 'Panic Station' but my mind said 'Survival'. After all it was featured in the freaking Olympics, how much more epic could you want? The campy piano intro gives way to Bellamy's sky-shattering falsetto, furious guitar solos, and the ever living spirit of Queen guiding it to an epic climax.

#4: The Dø – 'Tightrope'

In 2010, Janelle Monae, Queen of the future-pop revolution, delighted with her debut full-length The Archandroid. It ran the gamut from R&B, to rockabilly, to score, to soul, and more. Enter French/Finnish indie rock duo The Dø. They took the (relatively) normal 'Tightrope', stripped it of its futuristic P-Funk agenda and warped it into a brain-bending prog rock anthem for the ages. From sweet and sultry beginnings to the chaotic free jazz breakdown in the middle, 'Tightrope' is well enough to give you goosebumps.

#3: Diablo Swing Orchestra – 'Honey Trap Aftermath' (from the album Pandora's Piñata)

I can still scarcely believe that I didn't know about the latest album from Diablo Swing Orchestra until it landed in my lap. A few years back I fell instantly and madly in love with these Swedish carnival metallers on their Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious album. Pandora's Piñata contains just the right blend of groovy hard rock, ripping solos, swing beats, and operatic vocals but the real treasure on the album is 'Honey Trap Aftermath'. Against all odds it is an unironic pop song from a fairly ironic bunch. Are they “selling out”? Goodness no – just proving that they can out-write any piece of top 40 flim-flam you care to name AND rock the fuck out.

#2: The Black Keys & RZA – 'The Baddest Man Alive' (from The Man With The Iron Fists Soundtrack)

How far The Black Keys have come from playing dive bars in Akron, Ohio and forever being compared to The White Stripes (because of the names, you see). Now they are selling out arenas across the world and making some formidable friendships in the world of hip-hop. 'The Baddest Man Alive' is the natural extension of these two polarizing personalities. The Keys hold down a groovy base and a loping hook while Wu-Tang legend RZA does his thing with flair. Every line is a violent or hilarious boast to paint himself as the titular baddest man alive. My personal favourite? “I date rape Beauty right in front of the Beast”. Yep, he went there.

#1: Gorillaz – 'Do Ya Thing'

It was a sad day for the professor when in February this year Gorillaz packed up their toys and called it a day. The magical pop outfit were (and had been) one of modern music's hottest properties for over a decade and their ever evolving pastiche pop never ceased to delight. We can be comforted by Damon Albarn's “never say never” attitude towards their future but for now the chips are down. Think of 'Do Ya Thing', their most recent / potentially last ever single, as a kiss off to the faithful and what a spectacle it is. Albarn is joined on vocals by LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy and the irrepressible Andre 3000 all in the name of promoting Converse shoes. Of the two guest vocalists, it is Andre 3000 who knocks this song out of the park with his deliciously loose verses and wall-to-wall charisma. Want even more Andre for your buck? Then try the absolutely mental 13 minute version where he proclaims to be “the shit” in various ways for minutes on end. Do ya damn thang do ya thang ya thang, indeed

Local Talent - Minuit

Here at Eclectik Electrik it's not all trippy, mind-melting jams and tooth-chipping heavy metal. The professor doesn't like to be pigeonholed. With that in mind he recently had the opportunity to talk to shit-hot New Zealand electro freaks Minuit. Singer Ruth Carr and keyboard/DJ extraordinaires Paul Dodge and Ryan Beehre for a quick chat about there goings on and, of course, their new album Last Night You Saw This Band.

Professor Ricardo: It has been three years since Find Me Before I Die A Lonely Death.Com. What have you been up to?

Ryan Beehre: Music

Paul Dodge: Cooking

Ruth Carr: What?

PR: It seems you are in high demand these days. Where in the world have you been performing?

RC: We have been hiatusing it up for the last wee while to get the new album finished. But really we'd been using the band as an excuse to visit some kickass places...St Petersburg and Viet Nam were no exceptions.

PR: How would you compare Last Night You Saw This Band to your previous records?

RC: I like it the best.

PD : For an "electronic" act, it has an awful lot of non-electronic sounds on it. Previous albums have been about bass and beats, this one is much more about rhythm and songs. I like it.

PR: Tell us about the writing and recording of the album

RC: I wrote a lot of the songs while I was working in Rarotonga, so I think there may be an unashamedly 'chilled out' feel to a few of the numbers!

PD: A few of them, sure. But equally there's this underlying menace that ripples through most Minuit stuff. That classic Ruth-way of matching the heaviest of lyrics with charming sentiment.  

RC: Good times, bad times - kinda like real life, right??

PD: There seems to be a lot of about adventure, and the album has a gypsy brass band, pacific rhythms, kids from a Haitian orphanage - there's even a harmonica in there... 

PR: Is there a meaning behind the album title?

RC: It's simply about experiences - seeing a band, feeling the joy of that moment, letting it inspire you and maybe it's kinda a tribute to people who go to live gigs.

PD: It's punters who make the live scene what it is, even more than bands themselves. Go to lastnight.co.nz and post a pic of the band you saw last night!

PR: Find Me Before I Die A Lonely Death.Com toyed with a few new ideas such as the acoustic track 'Vampires'. Are there any new musical avenues you would like to pursue in the future?

Ruth: I can't see us making a rap album anytime soon. If you haven't got those skills - you haven't got them.

PR: You are known for your energetic live performances. When/where are you touring the new album?

RC: Why, thank you very much.

PD: The album release party will be at Dux Live in Christchurch (NZ) on Saturday December 22nd. It's a special place and city for us, back in the day, Dux was the first place out of our hometown to give us a gig, and the return gig is gonna be massive. Can not wait! Minuit also headline the electronic stage at HomeGrown (also NZ) in March and will be touring round that time.

PR: You performed at this year's WOMAD (World Of Music And Dance) festival with Wellington's Gamelan Taniwha Jaya. How did all of that come about?

PD: It's a fiery percussive style of music with it's own tunings and timings, so it was a surprise to everyone when the Minuit tunes they chose converted seamlessly. We had a ball. Wrangling 22 people on stage when we're used to only three was a hilarious mish. 

RC: We have a friend who is a member of the gamelan and had often talked about a collaboration, and we finally got around to doing it!  We played WOMAD and Homegrown and it was truly so much fun, that we are planning some overseas excursions with them. The gamelan peeps are all brilliant people, but we can't play with them too often however, because, man, they can REALLY party, and I gotta protect my head a bit!

PR: Is it an indicator of some strange future collaborations to come?

RC: Lets bloody well hope so!

PR: As an electronic act what is the best part about performing live in front of a crowd?

RC: Just the same as for any band I reckon - we aren't the kinda electronic act that just pushes play then stands back to watch it all happen. It's full immersion.  

PR: How do the audiences in NZ differ from those on your European excursions?

RC: Other countries have fun accents when they sing the words of our songs back at us, but other than that, people who love music, love music.  Oh, excepts Germans, they're quite different, they stand there looking very intently at what is happening and you can't tell if they wanna pash you or slash you and then you finish the set and they come up to you and rave about how good you were and how much they loved it!

PR: As a respected act with four albums under your belts, how do you feel about the state of New Zealand music?

RB: In the 'dance/electronic/dj/club' scene...wow, so much going on. And people should push it harder, seriously. Get crazy, don't just copy. We've got mad talent doing it overseas, taking their stuff and serato in a bag and blowing some minds. 

RC: NZ is a very little country so it is very hard to make a living from music unless you are a more mainstream sound, and even then, I suspect it's not all peaches n cream. But diversity of genre's and sounds and mish-mashes gives us strength, so long may it scatter and grow.

PR: Thanks guys (and gal) for your time

Album review: Graveyard - Lights Out

Sweden's Graveyard are a band who seem to know exactly who they are and what they want to achieve. On Lights Out, album number three for those who are counting, there is certainly no crisis of identity. Gut-busting hard rock in the vein of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Kyuss is the name of the game and it is a game that the Gothenburg quartet excel at. Their previous album Hisingen Blues was a highlight of the crop of rock albums in 2011 and primed Graveyard for worldwide exposure. So how do they fare?

'An Industry Of Murder' paints a vivid picture to the listener of how this album is likely to differ from Hisingen Blues. It is still masterfully played, wooly backwoods rock music but this time around there is a sense of patience and grace to compliment the powerhouse performances. When dealing in this type of music a degree of subtlety can go a long way, lest it should devolve into chest-beating pap. Graveyard have managed to achieve this without blunting their sheer impact when they feel like turning it all the way up – which fortunately is often.

Mature sounds like a dirty word when you are trying to construct amp-busting, bong-rattling heavy metal, but it is actually what makes Lights Out such a treat to listen to. Without the cloying machismo, you are left with a nice variety of tones and tempos to prevent repetition setting in without ever completely taking over. If you feel as though the pace is dipping there is always a ripper of a track just around the corner. The danger with this sort of bask-to-basics approach is that it can easily descend into a game of “spot the influence”. The guitars on 'Fool In The End' might sting of prime Crazy Horse and 'Hard Times Lovin' is surely haunted by the spirit of Jim Morrison. It is a testament to Graveyard that even if you are stuck pointing all of this out that you can still have a good time with the record.

Rating: A-

Recommended tracks: 20/20 (Tunnel Vision), An Industry Of Murder, Slow Motion Countdown

Album Review: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill

Neil Young is a man who is clearly enjoying the renaissance of his golden years. More than 40 years after he left Buffalo Springfield he is still practically a household name and has earned his position as rock and rolls favourite curmudgeon. When he's not promoting eco fuels, raising money for charity, or mocking other musicians (cough, Bono, cough) he is – gasp – actually making albums. Even more shocking is that the music he is making in the 21^st century is actually good. How many of his contemporaries from the late 60s can say the same thing? His latest album, along with the legendary Crazy Horse, is Psychedelic Pill and it is an album that is destined to test the patience of his fan base while simultaneously luring them back for more punishment.

Opening your album with a rambling 27 minute long muddle of a song is more than just a big ask for the listener; it's a leap of faith. Yet that is exactly what we have here with 'Driftin' Back' – an absolute marathon of a song that unfortunately does not justify the enormous play time. Add to that the fact that later in the album there are two more pieces that cross the 16 minute mark and you can start to see why Psychedelic Pill is a frustrating listening experience. This protracted bout of egotism and/or madness is followed up with the short but suitably trippy title track. The guitars are heavily treated but they still retain that caustic power of old. A few moments here and there are starting to sound a little too familiar. Is the riff of 'Walk Like A Giant' swiped directly from 'Like a Hurricane' or is my mind playing tricks on me?

That familiar but deadly saw-toothed guitar sound reigns supreme as do the long meandering jams that recall the gob-smacking might of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. This is Crazy Horse we are talking about here, not some over the hill cash-grab from washed out has-beens. Also don't forget that this is Young & co's second album of the year, following on from the mangled standards presented on Americana. If Crazy Horse can stir up two pretty good albums in the course of a single year why do bands like The Rolling Stones take eight years to make just one of questionable quality? In fact Psychedelic Pill is Young's ninth in a decade proving once and for all that rust, indeed, never sleeps.

Rating: B

Recommended tracks: Walk Like A Giant, Psychedelic Pill

Album review: Paul Banks - Banks

Are solo projects from musicians in established musical acts doomed to be mirror images of their day jobs, or is it an opportunity to do something completely out of the blue that never have worked in their other bands? Banks, from Interpol front man Paul Banks, answers that question with another question: can't it be both? Banks (the album) is a statement in which Banks (the man) embraces his own musical identity as a detached entity from Interpol and it yields some interesting results. The clue is in the album's title and the fact that he is no longer using the Julian Plenti pseudonym, having previously released an album and an EP under that name over the past few years. This change has allowed him to finally take center stage with no fake name to protect him from the slings and arrows of notoriety. For now at least Banks is running his ambitions up the flag pole to see who salutes.

There are certainly some Interpol-flavoured songs here (such as 'Over My Shoulder and 'Paid For That') but the more familiar concepts are presented in a new light which only Banks by himself could muster. Guitar driven tunes carry a new cinematic edge that elevates them above the New York industrial chic of Turn On The Bright Lights. Banks is perhaps giving us a glimpse into his own CD collection with every song that passes. U2, Joy Division, and Kraftwerk, make for strange bedfellows but manage to co-exist on lead single 'The Base'. Electric, electronic, and organic instruments mesh together to make a dizzying tapestry of soul-baring tales. The instrumental 'Lisbon' is a breath of fresh air amidst the gloom – a meandering piece that evokes the technicolour landscapes of classic cinema and gives the audience a small break from Banks' claustrophobic drone.

Ultimately, Banks is an excursion into one man's mind, heart, and soul. The strongest moments come when he is less fussed about densely layered arrangements and let us slip right to the core of the songs. 'Summertime Is Gone' closes the album in a gorgeous, heart warming fashion. While it might be an uneven album there is plenty in there for Interpol fans to love and for everyone else to wonder at and, perhaps, even love too.

Rating: B+

Recommended tracks: The Base, Summertime Is Gone

Album Review: Muse - The 2nd Law

Muse have been enjoying their rocket ride to super-stardom for six years and three albums now. Black Holes & Revelations (album number four for those keeping score) pushed a lot of buttons for a lot of people and put the British trio on a lot of people's radars. The Resistance followed three years later but failed to break much new ground. The whole thing felt positively safe which is the last thing that a band like Muse ever want to be accused of, especially given their colorful history. The major problem with The Resistance was the identity crisis it seemed to suffer from. Was it the work of a prog rock band embraced by the mainstream? Were they top 40 musicians babbling about conspiracies for a lark? Were they teen-baiting Twilight proponents that just-so-happened to dabble in classical music? The 2^nd Law has an interesting approach to all of these questions: always keep the people guessing.

Rather than reign in all of these far-flung ideas and tendencies Muse have pushed them further into the unknown. What would have previously been a song with subtle funk elements is now a glammed up funk throw-down like 'Panic Station'. The requisite stadium anthems such as 'Supremacy' and the Olympics' very own 'Survival' are now planetary in scope. This has allowed the band to indulge in new concepts that never would have worked for them five years and a few albums ago. They have chosen to embrace the identity crisis rather than solve it and in doing so have made pop music maximalism on a thrilling new scale.

Just when you feel as though the wide-ranging genre excursions are simply becoming too un-Muse-like you find songs which effortlessly recall the styles of Origin Of Symmetry or Black Holes & Revelations. 'Animals' slides gracefully from jazz picking to roundhouse riffing. Underneath the futuristic disco facade 'Panic Station' is related to older rockers like 'Hysteria'. Matthew Bellamy's voice is one of modern rock's most powerful and impressive instruments. With this is mind I was pleasantly surprised by the songs that do not feature it. These are 'Save Me' and 'Liquid State' where bass player Christopher Wolstenholme takes over on lead vocal duties. This change of pace is an inspired move and a real star turn for Wolstenholme no longer playing second fiddle to a very bombastic front man. 'Liquid State' impresses in particular with thrash metal overtones and a grimy industrial veneer. Not every song delivers as promised but that is to be expected when so much caution is being thrown to the wind.

Of particular note is the closing duo of tracks, both heavily informed by electronic music but they could not be much more different. The first, 'The 2^nd Law: Unsustainable' is the dubstep track that severely divided fans when it was first announced. Your enjoyment of it is entirely based on your enjoyment of dubstep (my personal enjoyment of it is none at all). Even with the unfamiliar bells and whistles of the genre going off it is still very much a Muse song at its heart. The second piece however, 'The 2^nd Law: Isolated System' is one of the album's best and most evocative numbers. It is a moody denouement that is very much indebted to dance music's ancestry and contains no live vocals at all; a lament to the end of the world that ends the album on a well-earned note of contemplation.

The end result is far more dangerous and tasty than I could ever have expected. Muse have never lacked in personality so for them to let the freak flag fly even higher, risking complete alienation, was a crafty gambit. Detractors will find plenty of ammunition to lampoon the band with, and the fans will find more audacious sky-shattering rock to drink in.

Rating: A-

Recommended tracks: Animals, Panic Station, Liquid State

Album review: Tame Impala - Lonerism

Australia's Tame Impala are rapidly making a case for them being the future of modern psychedelic rock while still being very much indebted to its past. This is the sort of band that took 'Strawberry Fields Forever' as a touch point for their entire career and it appears to be paying dividends. Their debut album made major waves around the world and earned them supporting slots with the likes of The Flaming Lips, Mars Volta, and MGMT; the reigning pantheon of psych weirdness. This year sees the release of their highly anticipated sophomore record, Lonerism. Can Tame Impala break new ground and avoid the deadly second album slump?

Lonerism is an album full of gorgeous, cinematic compositions flawlessly executed. If all of this is sounding a bit familiar that's because it actually is. This same description applies equally to their 2010 debut Innerspeaker as it does here two years later. None of it is actually bad, just a little unsurprising which is dangerous territory when your sonic approach involves shocking the senses. The much lauded John Lennon / Beatles schtick is particularly thick on the album's closing piano ballad 'Sun's Coming Up (Lambingtons)' although it a very solid track. There is no doubt that Tame Impala are good at this style of languid, echo-chamber psychedelic rock – but can they progress beyond it? This is a question that the album unfortunately does not get around to answering. Even though Tame Impala seem to have a well defined “comfort zone” to their sound they are certainly not above kicking against it from time to time. Opening track 'Be Above It' is a genuine shock to the senses – reverberating percussion, synth stabs, and the breathless mantra “gotta be above it” hammering away. Another standout track is the brutish 'Elephant' that rides a Black Sabbath worthy bass line and a new wave beat for a song that is bizarre as well as heavy. What a triumph! It is moments like this that remind the listener what the band could do if they really put their minds to it.

What certainly helps in my enjoyment of this album (and the band in general) is how much they buck the trend of their home country's attitude towards rock music, which is usually a very white bread affair. Isn't it nice to hear an Aussie band that isn't aping either AC/DC or Jimmy Barnes for once? Vocalist Kevin Parker might never live down the comparison to a certain John Lennon, and there is quite a good chance that the band will always sound a bit like Sweden's Dungen. Ultimately all that matters is that they keep making good albums like Lonerism, the people keep lapping them up, and we encourage them to keep pushing further into space.

Rating: B-

Recommended tracks: Be Above It, Elephant

Album Review: John Frusciante - PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone

PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone. The words are emblazoned on the album cover in crudely painted scrawl as a warning sign, as if to say “beyond here there be some weird shit”. We have learned not to be fooled by his long residency with The Red Hot Chili Peppers: guitarist/singer/songwriter John Frusciante is one trippy cat. If you have mistakenly wandered into this album expecting to hear an 'Under The Bridge' or 'Scar Tissue' turn away and run. This time around he is indulging his electro freak persona and the strange is turned up to 11 rather than the guitars. It is a crash course in experimental electronics and it yields some amusing results that are bound to draw in some as it turns others away.

Guitars are certainly present but they rarely take center stage. Instead we are treated to an assortment of booming bass synths, buzzing keyboards, drum machines, and banks upon banks of effects peddles. Here and there, among all of this, nuggets of his sharp pop mind surface. Behold the gorgeous mumbled harmonies of 'Ratiug' (hint: read it backwards) and the tasteful use of Wu-Tang affiliate Kinetic 9 to punch up the finale. The funky beat that slides into the last 30 seconds of closing track 'Sum' is a genius stroke that teases before shutting up completely. Some of these concepts are simply too unwieldy to execute; others are all the more endearing for existing in spite of that. On the surface 'Uprane' is just a jumble of acid-damaged trip hop, but there is actually a coherent song buried under all that noise. 'Bike' collapses into mountains of avant jazz and break beats and becomes entirely incomprehensible. These compositions are volatile but Frusciante's knack both for the abstract and the beautiful make it work far more often than it falters.

I don't usually write about bonus tracks on albums unless I consider them of particular importance to said album. That is the case here with an A Capella version of 'Ratiug' and 'Walls & Doors'. The former will honestly make some people leap for the fast forward button. It is exactly what it says it is: one of the album's best track stripped of its guitars and inherent funkiness but you cannot deny that he has a heavenly voice. The latter was released to the public a few weeks before the album dropped. It really has no need to exist outside of the main album tracks as it would fit in seamlessly. It turns out he found a way to fuse prog rock with drum and bass.

If nothing else, PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone serves as a reminder of the power of unbridled creativity. John Frusciante has not held back an ounce in the creation of this album and that alone would be worthy of our attention. The fact that it has some moments of absolute brilliance in it is just a bonus to the listener.

Rating: B+

Recommended tracks: Ratiug, Sum

From the Professor's Page: The end of 2012

The beginning of September heralds many things. One is the beginning of Spring (or Autumn / Fall if you're in the Northern hemisphere) but it also marks the beginning of the end for the current year. Everything gets busier and ramps up as the months slip by and, before you know it, its goddamned Christmas already. With this in mind I have set about highlighting five albums that should make this final third of 2012 a more joyous and awesome (or perhaps bearable) time to be a music fan.

1. Down – Down IV Part 1: The Purple EP (September)

As a metal fan it is practically mandatory to be a Pantera fan. Although I can't count the number of times I have had a raucous party that involved giving The Great Southern Trendkill a spin they were never my favourite of the metal pantheon. When I first heard Down in 2002 I fell in love with their downbeat metallic stylings. Their long awaited new album Down IV is being released as series of four EPs. These are the first recording with new bass player Pat Bruders (Crowbar) and promise to be every bit as captivating and ruthless as the previous records. Parts two, three, and four will all apparently be released next year which gives us even more to look forward to.

2. John Frusciante – PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone (September)

Is it a coincidence that Frusciante's more conventional solo albums (To Record Only Water For Ten Days, Will To Death, The Empyrean) came while he was in the thick of his “day job” with the Chilis? It is time to put that theory to the test. Since stepping away from you-know-who he has been keeping a very low profile and keeping his cards close to his chest. Who knows what it is going to contain other than a particular cryptic quote about being “progressive synth pop” and the bizarre Letur Lefr EP released earlier this year . The title PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone … first off, what the hell? … is apparently made up of words that Frusciante feels describe his creative process. Godspeed you strange, strange man.

3. Tame Impala – Lonerism (October)

Australia's Tame Impala really took me by surprise with their full length debut Innerspeaker in 2010. All of a sudden Aussie rock was about more than daft haircuts, spilled lager, and black wifebeaters. This young trio embraced the might of 70s psychedelic rock and came off like the golden bastard child of The Beatles and The Flaming Lips. To say I'm eagerly anticipating Lonerism is a severe understatement. Hopefully these talented cats can sidestep the dreaded sophomore album slump but the two songs released from the record so far ('Apocalypse Dreams' and 'Elephant') all seem to be pointing in a positive direction.

4. Deftones – Koi No Yokan (November)

The last Deftones album, 2010's Diamond Eyes, was a triumph and an emphatic return to form in the face of tragedy. While bass player Chi Cheng's future remains uncertain after the terrible accident in 2008 the band are forging ahead and striking while the iron is hot with Koi No Yokan. Vocalist Chino Moreno has stated in interviews the similarities between this new album and genre classic White Pony. Since I'm pretty sure he says that about every album of his before it comes out perhaps the wisest move is to wait until the November 12 release date and see for ourselves.

5. Soundgarden – King Animal (November … or whenever)

Forgive a little skepticism on my part but the release date for this is anyone's guess really. Soundgarden were also met with skepticism by some when they announced that their reunion tour was not a nostalgia trip but a full-blown return. I for one am intrigued at what the veterans will come out with. I maintain my position on this despite their only new song ('Live To Rise' from The Avengers soundtrack) being lukewarm at best. If nothing else they have earned our patience though and I am happy to wait for as long as it takes.

It has been a great year so far and if these five examples are anything to go by then the good times are nowhere near over yet.

- Professor Ricardo K 

Album Review: That Handsome Devil - The Jungle Book

“We all just wanna be kids again / but you can't buy back your innocence”.

These are world-weary words from a world-weary band. They come from That Handsome Devil's song 'Buyer's Remorse' and they lament the woeful transition from wide-eyed children to the drudgery of adulthood that we all must undertake sooner or later. That Handsome Devil's latest release is called The Jungle Book and it is, indeed, based on the classic 1967 Disney film of the same name. Each of it's six songs is a cover of a song featured in the movie as sung by apes, crows, elephants, bears, and people. Is this a last ditch attempt at buying back that innocence? Not by a long shot.

The cold introduction introduces us into this new, frightening world before diving into the swooning doo-wop of 'Friends'. The lyrics might expound friendship on the surface but they leave a bad taste in your mouth, turning a once heart-warming sentiment into bitter irony – all driven with a Sergeant Pepper's marching beat. 'March', all militaristic beats and squelching guitars, has become a dehumanizing doctrine about the loss of individuality. 'Fire' revels in its own self-destructiveness even if the sour horns drag you slowly down to hell. 'Bare' – formerly the sing-along favourite 'The Bare Necessities' – has lost all of its joy, now merely a whimpered plea for survival. THD find the evil at the heart of these tunes and exposes it for all to see. I dare to say that it will be hard for me to ever hear the original versions of these songs the same way ever again should I attempt to revisit my childhood. Only Godforbid and crew could turn the music of a celebrated kid's cartoon into a morose meditation on (sur)reality and the dark side of the human soul.

The sole moment of tranquility in all of this is the final track, 'Home'. It acts as the voice of compassion that pierces through the gloom; soothing the savage beast with female vocals and gentle string arrangements. That Handsome Devil move in leaps and bounds never satisfied with their current lot in life. For a band with only two full-length albums (and three EPs) to their name, their sound has a maturity that is hard to match. For years now I have been calling THD one of the best, most overlooked bands on Earth. The Jungle Book is just more ammunition for me to do so.

Rating: A

Recommended tracks: March, Fire, Home

Do you know what the BEST part of this album is? It is 100% FREE! You can download it here.

Review Wrap-Up: August 2012

#1 Kendra Morris - Banshee

Kendra Morris has been setting the internet alight before Banshee, her debut album, had even released with a series of covers that ranged from Jennifer Lopez to Metallica to Pink Floyd. This is a lady who knows how to set the bar high. Banshee is filled with slinky, sultry tunes that show off Morris' sparkling voice. She has the instrument she needs to stand out from partically any other female R&B performer you care to name. Production duties are handled by Jeremy Page, one of the musical geniuses behind That Handsome Devil (AKA the world's greatest band). His sound is all over this record; skittering hip-hop beats, wonky organ vamps, and knowing just when to bring in those menacing guitars. All of these things come to a head on 'Concrete Waves', a track that sets the tone for the entire album. Fans of Janelle Monae and Alice Russell should apply here.

Rating: A-

Recommended tracks: The Plunge, Concrete Waves, Today

#2: Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Bad Moon Ritual

When it comes to Chris Robinson, the name of the band might change but the modus operandi stays the same. Whether it's with the Black Crowes or his new band, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, the singer remains enamored with rock music of yesteryear. The southern-fried opening track 'Tulsa Yesterday' blends Led Zeppelin, Allman Brothers, and the Grateful Dead into an unstoppable eleven minute jam session. Robinson is a country boy at heart with songs like 'Star Or Stone' transporting the listener to the dusty vistas of the American south. No song sits under the seven minute mark which makes the weaker tracks marathons of endurance at times. Ultimately, if you've heard much of the Black Crowes then not much here is likely to surprise you. But with all of its charm and warmth Bad Moon Ritual – warts and all - is a very hard album to dislike.

Rating: B-

Recommended tracks: Tulsa Yesterday, Star Or Stone

#3: Easy Star All Stars – Easy Star's Thrillah

Having already tried their hands at Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and The Beatles Easy Star All Stars' next covers album tackles one of pop music's most revered records: Michael Jackson's Thriller (aka Thrillah). The choice of album is inspired as many of these songs are already ingrained into our collective musical consciousness. The group of musicians involved are clearly fans of the original and their enthusiasm for the source material is obvious. “Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'” is reinvented as a funky seven-minute soul revue and the smooth dubby bassline on “Thriller” will bring a smile to any Jacko fan. As fun as Thrillah is it does lack the stroke of genius of pairing up reggae with prog rock that made Dub Side Of The Moon a cult classic. All the same this is the perfect summer party record for all you beach bums out there.

Rating: B

Recommended tracks: Thriller, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'

#4: Jackson Firebird – Cock Rockin'

If the name of this band conjures up images of muscle cars, stereos blaring, filled with long haired dudes then it has done its job. This Aussie duo are all about greasy rock and roll - beer soaked , petrol breathed, and ready for mayhem. Part early Kings of Leon and part early Black Keys, Jackson Firebird check all the right boxes to make a kickass party record. In defiance of modern rock trends Cock Rockin is roughly produced and dangerously raw which is of course a part of their sweaty charm. At the end of the raucous title track you can practically hear the mixing board catch fire and the guitar leads on 'Rock Solid' are the kind of ballsy blues that had been putting Aussie rock on the map since the 70s. This is bare bones rock, for better or for worse. This album is a no-brainer for fans of The Datsuns or Eagles Of Death Metal.

Rating: C+

Recommended track: Cock Rockin'

#5: Katatonia – Dead End Kings

Swedish stalwarts Katatonia have slowly been blurring the lines between melodic death metal and hard rock for over 20 years now. Dead End Kings is their ninth album and easily their most accessible to the outsider so far. Singer Jonas Renke has a voice that is sweet, supple, and instantly recognizable which helps to set Katatonia apart from the crowded European metal scene. At this point in their career Katatonia have nothing to prove which affords them the room to experiment with their core sound. While keyboards and electronics have always been prominent in their albums Dead End Kings takes the occasional detour into trip-hop (as on the excellent 'Leech') that is bound to turn heads. An excellent example of a band that is maturing without pandering to the expectations of the masses – they seem to be happier following their demented muse than following trends. Their mellowest album yet and truly gorgeous.

Rating: B+

Recommended tracks: Leech, Undo You

Idle Worship: Tomahawk (2000 - Present)

The Players

Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard) - Guitar

Trevor Dunn (Mr Bungle, Fantomas, Melvins) - Bass

Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr Bungle, Fantomas – co-founder of Ipecac Records) – Vocals, keyboards

John Stanier (Helmet, Battles) – Drums

Former:

Kevin Rutmanis (Melvins) - Bass

The Albums:

Tomahawk – 2001 (Ipecac)

Mit Gas – 2004 (Ipecac)

Anonymous – 2007 (Ipecac)

Oddfellows - TBC

A number of years back a good friend of mine coined the expression “Tomahawk is God's gift to music” and ever since I have found no reason at all to disagree with him. They are dark, violent, and visceral but also humorous, ridiculous, and mightily unpredictable. What more could you want from you local pack of weirdos?

The term “supergroup” aside, Tomahawk is comprised of men with a lot of talent, prestige, and an endless capacity for sick genius. Each are memorable players in their individual projects and are well regarded by those in the know. Since their formation the only change in personnel is when Rutmanis exited with the band under mysterious circumstances. He performed on the first two albums, but left to be replaced by Patton's running buddy Trevor Dunn (they also worked in Fantomas and Mr Bungle together) to commence work on Oddfellows earlier this year. Each member brings their unique voice to the collective sound - and that sound is a menacing one – but any band that features Mike Patton is going to create some serious buzz.

Vocally, Tomahawk is the closest to Faith No More that Patton has come since they stopped making albums after 1996. Tomahawk generally seems to be following a structure of some sort which separates it from the manic experimentalism of Fantomas, or the freakshow spectacle of Mr Bungle. This both a blessing and a curse: a blessing as it makes for an easy point of reference to draw in new fans, but a curse in that some will accuse the project of running on fumes. Mike Patton, let alone the other 2-3 members, doesn't half-ass anything and any fears that this was a limp FNM retread were quickly put to rest. The major difference is that this is not friendly stuff – more like some sort of musical psychodrama blaring out of amplifiers. 

Even when Tomahawk leaned the furthest into mainstream recognition it was still pretty freaking out there. Each of they're three existing albums bear only one single each. The first 'God Hates A Coward' is performed live using a mic-rigged respirator just so it sounds creepy enough. The second, 'Rape This Day' has a name only a mother could love and, for obvious reasons, received very little airplay. Finally 'Sun Dance' is mostly made of wordless chanting, and a slice of hardcore wedges into a cut-throat tribal jam. No 'Epic' or 'Ashes To Ashes' are likely to be found in here.

Tomahawk is a willful exercise in psychosis, you can feel it seeping through the tales of murder and misanthropy. It might be a carjacking ('101 North') or the ramblings of a musical outsider pushed too far ('Pop 1'). Mit Gas just pours gasoline on that fire, closing the record out with a truly demented coda. 'Harlem Clown' samples the same phrase on loop as it decays into clicks and record skips. Top that with the positively acidic 'Aktion FM1413' as it dictates the basic principles of hand-to-hand combat in a soulless robot voice. The album's final breakdown is punishing, glorious noise rock at its finest. As unusual as those first two albums are nothing adequately prepared people for their third album, Anonymous. Tomahawk had decided to infuse their scowling rock with Native American rhythms and pay homage to a practically-extinct musical style. It turned out not to be as bizarre of a combination as it initially sounds. Which brings us to Oddfellows. Apart from a 40 second teaser clip nothing has been heard from the album and even an exact release is hard to pin down. You could always spend the time that you have to wait twitching in anticipation. If you are in / can get yourself to Australia next year you might well have a chance to catch Tomahawk at Soundwave Festival 2013. They join the likes of Metallica, A Perfect Circle, Garbage, and Kyuss (Lives) in what is sure to be a hearty good time.

Are you behind the ball when it comes to Tomahawk? Ipecac records has kindly re-released all three of their albums in a boxed set titled Eponymous To Anonymous. You officially have no excuse now.