Prolix - starring Jurassic 5, Opeth, Beats by Dre, psychedelic hip-hop, and beefs getting squashed!

Welcome to Prolix - short news for short attention spans. In this semi-regular series I will be rounding up music news, reviews, opinions, rumours, and much more in bite-sized chunks of 100 words or less. Because, let's face it, sometimes you need information fast! 

J5 are back in the house!

Back in 2007 many hip-hop fans gave a minute's silence for California legends Jurassic 5 when they declared they were going their separate ways over creative differences. Things looked up last year when they pulled it back together for an international tour. But now they have given us something much more precious and that is a new song called 'The Way We Do It'. Produced by the late Heavy D and featuring an inspired White Stripes sample, this marks the group's first single in eight years. Whether this leads to more new music is currently unknown but dreams are free.

 

The Cusp of Eternity is here

Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. Just weeks after their new album had been delayed until August, somebody out there has let leak the new Opeth single a month ahead of schedule. 'Cusp of Eternity' has been uploaded onto and cut from Youtube multiple times since the writing of this article so hopefully this link is still working by the time you come to click on it. If this track is much to go by, Pale Communion will build upon what the band did on their divisive album Heritage. Bring on the naysayers, says I.

 

Power to the people ... and the Beats

It's being called one of the biggest purchases in music history and the ink hasn't barely dried on the dotted line. After months of speculation Apple has announced that they have bought the Beats headphone and music streaming service for a cool $3 billion. It seems like a smart move considering that Beats hauled in over a half a billion dollars in 2012 alone, making them the top headphone manufacturers in the world. Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr Dre have also been awarded unspecified jobs at Apple as part of the deal. Godspeed, gentlemen.

FDR: Fear of Death and the Need for Reproduction

Emerging from the primordial ooze like evolution's very own blooper reel comes FDR, a new project from the very talented Godforbid (That Handsome Devil) and MC Thirtyseven. They are joined by the eccentric talents of DJs Dr Quandry and Louis Mackey. Well, they've gone well beyond a tease and have dropped an EP on us with the fetching title of Fear of Death and the Need for Reproduction. You can purchase this fine document from here if you are so inclined. Expect a review of some sort in the future (or don't, it's a free country).

Pat Carney, in 'Beef-Squash VII: This time it's personal'

Patrick Carney of the Black Keys sure has a knack for getting into trouble. Whether its with Jack White, Justin Beiber, Gaga fans, or the specter of Michael Jackson, he loves a good beef. On the back of some high profile bitch sessions, Carney has now struck out at the mastermind behind it all: gossip cesspit TMZ. “Honestly, they should be fucking ashamed of themselves, that they make a living dragging poor souls that have nothing, that aren't famous, into this world” (source Rolling Stone). Why fight the bees when you can just set the hive on fire?

That's it for another exciting installment of Prolix - short music for short attention spans. As always, watch out for new music and condescending opinions on said music at Eclectik Electrik. Until next time, keep it eclectic true believers.

- Professor Ricardo

Album review: Mushroomhead - The Righteous & The Butterfly

When you look at the history of nu-metal it is a wonder that Ohio's Mushroomhead aren't more popular than they are. At the turn of the millennium the wider spectrum of metal was experimenting with pop, punk, funk, hip-hop, dance, industrial, goth, and glam. Considering the octet touched and all of these and more (sometimes within the confines of the same song!) they seemed like the perfect poster children for a new era of weird heaviness. Unfortunately things never quite clicked for them, and comparisons to certain genre heavyweights held them back from the superstardom they perhaps deserved. 2014 represents a reboot of sorts for the band with their new album The Righteous and the Butterfly. Original vocalist Jason “J Mann” Popson returns to the fold for the first time in a decade, as well as the inclusion of new members Church (guitar), Dr F (bass), and Roberto Diablo (drums).

The Righteous and the Butterfly takes everything that made Mushroomhead unique in the crowded shark tank that was the nu-metal era and rebuilds it from the ground up. It is reboot and celebration of the past all in one. The album's strength is in the interplay between Jeffrey Nothing and the returning J Mann. Their 'beautiful beast vs beastly beast' double act was one of the band's foundations and, as a long time fan, it is great to hear that interplay return after two less than stellar albums without it. What is strange is that the other vocalist in the mix, Waylon Reavis, is still around which expands their already intimidating line-up to an auspicious nine members.

Default single 'Qwerty' is flat out ridiculous. It is a great song that carries the ludicrous slogan “Fuck you / I had a bad day” like a badge of honor. The danger here is that a causal observer might take a message like that seriously. And that doesn't even touch on the ironic 'bass drops'. But for the first time in the album 'Qwerty' shows us what having three distinct vocalists can mean for Mushroomhead. Faux heavy metal posturing aside, they still find time for some genuinely affecting tracks. The double-headed 'Portraits of People' / 'Childlike' are an honest and moving palette cleanser that opens the door for more punishment that lies in wait just around the corner.

Mushroomhead are at their best when they put the tough guy schtick aside and set about confusing the hell of its audience. The groovy trip-hop strut of 'We Are the Truth' is completely out of left field. Tracks like this certainly do better than the straight-forward, but technically proficient thrashers ('Son of Seven' is a prominent culprit). They're not bad per se but tend to come across as uninspired. Never forget, this is a band that had the balls to make angry carnival dance music, worship Mike Patton before it was cool, and cover an obscure Pink Floyd track on their major label debut. Needless to say they are creatively fearless. In what might as well be a callback to XIII the album closes out with a startling pop cover. This time instead of Seal's ubiquitous 'Crazy' we are treated to a grimy, tongue-in-cheek rendition of Adele's 'Rumor Has It'. If we ever needed a clear sign that this band has no problem having fun with their tough guy image, here you go!

The Righteous and the Butterfly is a departure from the polished muscularity of their last few albums. If anything it recalls the loose, unhinged vibe that XX created so effortlessly in 2001. In true retrospective fashion, that polish has not eroded entirely but it is certainly better contained and implemented than it has been. Like the best of their previous work, The Righteous and the Butterfly is a complicated album – far more complex than the band's appearance would suggest. It is harsh, quirky, and unfocused in equal measure.

Rating: A-
Recommended tracks: Qwerty, We Are The Truth, How Many Times

Album review: Rodrigo y Gabriela - 9 Dead Alive

Let there be no doubt that Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero are wizards when it comes to playing the guitar. The core directive of their band, Rodrigo y Gabriela, has always been that every sound on their records comes directly from the acoustic guitar – not just the strumming and plucking of the stings but also the percussion played directly on the body of the instrument. It was this musical philosophy that has helped to take them from low-tier heavy metal bands in Mexico to being a world beating acoustic duo. To some, the intensity of their performance and lack of vocals has been a bridge too far to cross while others are (rightly) floored by the musical mastery. 9 Dead Alive is their third full-length studio album and it reminds us what we love about them while still opening up new possibilities at every turn.

While their self-titled debut adhered strictly to that strict doctrine regarding guitar sounds, 11:11 allowed hints of other instruments to creep in around the fringes: piano, violins, and a searing electric solo on Atman courtesy of Alex Skolnik from Testament. As it turned out, none of these extra touches diminished their prowess or watered down their ethos one iota. 9 Dead Alive pulls an even more audacious trick by inclusion of (gasp) voices on 'Sunday Neurosis'. Before anybody brandishes a pitchfork it is worth pointing out that the voices come from a sample of Richard Dawkins and other modern philosophers discussing the perennial conundrum of God. The voices seem alien at first but they play beautifully off the David Gilmour motifs and muted organ of the bridge. Then there is the hushed studio chatter that bookends album closer 'La Salle Des Pas Perdas'. Their bi-lingual banter is very cute and it gives the piece a loose, off-the-cuff feel – like we are peering behind the curtain to steal a peek of The Great and Powerful. For such a simple addition to their sonic palette the sound of the human voice has completely altered the mood of these compositions.

Every track on 9 Dead Alive is a tribute to somebody (or something) from history that has had a profound impact on the 21^st century. They range from authors and poets, to philosophers and luthiers, social revolutionaries, and even nature itself. You don't ever need to know the inspiration behind a song to appreciate it fully but some of the subjects are interesting to ponder in relation to the music. The fact that 'The Soundmaker' was inspired by master guitar craftsman Antonio Torres Jurado makes sense as you're listening to it. 'The Russian Messenger' is dextrous, surprisingly heavy, and cast in the shadow of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's weighty prose (he's the guy who wrote 'Crime & Punishment' - a book as cheerful as it sounds).

Even with all these additional elements and concepts the focus of the album is still firmly on the duo's unabashed worship of the six-string. Whether they are playing gently or exploding into furors of intensity it is absolutely spell-binding to behold. What is surprising is that the quieter, more thoughtful compositions are more striking than the dextrous outbursts and stick with you longer. On tracks like 'Sunday Neurosis' and 'Megalopolis' they force you to lean in a little closer as you can no longer rely on loudness to tell the story. These subtleties show a maturation in their approach to the craft and speaks of boundless future possibilities.

Quintero shines just as much from her rhythm guitar position as Sanchez does in lead. Her percussive touch helps them stand out from any old wistful string ticklers. She has a palpable energy and attitude that makes her style thrilling and instantly identifiable. Technically they are as flawless as always but they are never forced to rely on their talent as a crutch. They can evoke such emotion and narrative without ever needing to say a word. 9 Dead Alive is another impressive record in Rodrigo y Gabriela's already stellar catalogue. It pushes the duo to explore new areas in their existing range. The album and the audience alike are better off for it. 

Rating: A-

Recommended tracks: The Soundmaker, Sunday Neurosis, The Russian Messenger

Review Wrap-up: Featuring Black Label Society, Afghan Whigs, Brody Dalle, Killer Be Killed, and Damon Albarn

Black Label Society - Catacombs of the Black Vatican

Zakk Wylde and his Black Label Society are the perfect example of an artist who has established his identity and has stuck to his guns. Over the course of his nine albums with this band Wylde has created a formidable style of Southern heavy metal boogie rock that is instantly recognisable and dripping with personality. With every new release he explores the possibilities within that realm. Their 2013 release Unblackened showed off their subdued, soulful, and largely acoustic side. Catacombs of the Black Vatican is a violent lurch back towards good times and guitar heroics. It opens with the powerful combo of ‘Fields of Unforgiveness’, ‘My Dying Time’, and ‘Believe’. Yes, the Society are in full swing here and nobody does it better than they do. When it comes to scorching guitar solos ‘Damn the Flood’ takes the proverbial cake. But Wylde’s penchant for poignant ballads is present too. Given his gruff appearance many will be surprised at the tenderness that he brings to a song like ‘Angel of Mercy’. But that’s just part of the mystique – the heavy and the heartfelt stand side by side. This is a gutsy album, entirely assured of its identity, and willing to play things to the hilt. Catacombs of the Black Vatican is everything we have come to love and expect from Black Label Society.

Rating: B+

Recommended tracks: Damn the Flood, My Dying Time

The Afghan Whigs - Do to the Beast

If Ohio’s The Afghan Whigs never got the recognition they deserved in the 80s and 90s their comeback might just right some of those wrongs. With everything to gain and nothing to lose, we have their latest album Do to the Beast, a mere sixteen years since their last release. This albums serves as an apt reminder often that just because music is dark doesn't mean it’s got to be mopey. This album swings, grooves, and often flat-out rocks. 'Parked Outside' opens the album up, kicks the doors wide open, and is possibly the heaviest thing they have ever recorded. What makes this album so thrilling to listen to is that while the songs mesh naturally amongst themselves, inside each one you will find a strange assortment of familiar elements. Elastic guitar leads butt heads with gritty funk ('Matamoros') and soaring pop melodies clash with a creeping piano dirge (‘Lost in the Woods’). This incarnation of the band has been constructed to very much make singer Greg Dulli the star. He and bass player / multi-instrumentalist John Curley are the only two original members who perform here. Luckily these two have an easy chemistry between them. They have reinvented Afghan Whigs into something far broader and more dramatic than the original blueprints allowed for. Do to the Beast achieves something that happens all too rarely in the world of 21^st century rock music: it never loses sight of its intelligence and its heart.

Rating: A-

Recommended tracks: Parked Outside, Matamoros, These Sticks

Brody Dalle - Diploid Love

Maybe it says a lot about females in rock nowadays but Brody Dalle seems fated to be spoken of in relation to the men in her life. At the turn of the millennium she made snotty, caustic tough chick punk in The Distillers that coincided with her marriage to Rancid’s Tim Armstrong. Fast forward to 2014 and we have her debut album under her own name and Diploid Love will be held up against the work of her new husband, Joshua Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. While it is a well-made album in its own right this new comparison is also entirely apt. They both share a tortured rock sensibility and a penchant for finding the groove amidst the darkness. From the brutish chords that kick off Rat Race you have a fairly good idea what you’re in for. This is straight-forward, fast paced, fist in the air, kick you in the guts rock and roll. There are moments that are designed to shake up the formula (like the flamenco flourishes in ‘Underworld’ or the new wave strut of ‘Carry On’) but they never hang around very long. Dalle is also backed by a couple of QOTSA players on the album which further pushes her family ties. Alain Johannes and Michael Shuman contribute along with Shirley Manson (Garbage) and Nick Valensi (The Strokes). Manson in particular has great chemistry with Dalle as a co-vocalist and helps turn ‘Meet the Foetus / Oh the Joy’ into a high point of the album. Even if Diploid Love doesn’t turn out to be the most original rock record of 2014 Dalle herself remains a powerful and engaging figure.

Rating: C+

Recommended track: Meet the Foetus / Oh the Joy

Killer Be Killed - Killer Be Killed

Is there such a thing as too much star power in a band? This is a valid question that needs to be applied to Killer Be Killed, a new heavy metal super group and their self-titled album. When you put Max Cavalera (Soulfly, Sepultura), Troy Sanders (Mastodon), and Greg Puciato (Dillinger Escape Plan) and Dave Elitch (Mars Volta) together you are bound to make headlines. With three vocalists on board the singing/growling is going to play a large part in the album. Puciato, Sanders, and Cavalera are all well-respected in their own fields and tackle every track with gusto. Elitch’s background in prog rock more than equips him to keep pace with these guys on the drums as well. The riffs are never short of solid, the music energetic, and this is a heavy album, but the style is fairly uniform right through - a hybrid of groove and thrash with a hint of punk and sludge for flavour. As fun as ‘Wings of Feather and Wax’ and ‘Face Down’ are at a certain point fatigue has to set in. The odd track mixes up the tone and pace (‘Save the Robots’ and ‘Forbidden Fire’ are particular stand-outs) but they are just not frequent enough to create a serious deviation from the punishing grind. In spite of the harsh tone this is on the ‘fun’ end of the metal spectrum. It’s the sort of fun that inspires young metalheads to mosh manically and heads to bang. Still it’s hard to shake the feeling that Killer Be Killed came together as a statement of music celebrity first and foremost, a solid metal record second.

Rating: B-

Recommended tracks: Face Down, Save the Robots

Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots

No matter what else he does Damon Albarn will always be best known to most as the real frontman for Blur and the fictional frontman for Gorillaz. It is little surprise then that his numerous solo projects have been largely overlooked for these big name affairs. His latest record is called Everyday Robots and it is a marked departure from his previous work. The album cover portrays Albarn sitting hang-doggedly on a stool in front of a grey background. Just like putting his name front and centre, this is a clue as to the sort of album we are in for. For starters the itchy guitars and bombastic hip-hop beats have been traded in for a gentle acoustic strum and confessional, sing-along tone. In doing this he doesn’t sacrifice his sense of humour but the sheer power of his personality shines through just as bright as ever. The beats are still there but here Albarn favors the sedate and organic over rattling club bangers. They are the heartbeat that underpins these constructions instead of the framework on which everything hangs. Some of these songs are not entirely divorced from his previous work (especially some of the more stripped down Gorillaz tracks) it’s just that they have been allowed to inhabit a new creative space and shine through with a new voice. And then there are the rare moments of unrestrained levity when he unleashes joyous numbers like ‘Mr Tembo’ on the largely unsuspecting listener. Everyday Robots is a quintessentially English album from an iconic English artist, veering casually between the poles of ‘cheery’ and ‘glum’.

Rating: B-

Recommended tracks: Mr Tembo, Hollow Ponds

And there we have it folks, the end of the month is upon us. In May we can look forward to big-name releases from The Black Keys (Turn Blue) and Jack White (Lazaretto) as well as albums by Lykke Li, Mushroomhead, Swans, and The Roots. Strange times are ahead, true believers. Until next time be a good neighbour and improve your street with good music - if you don't do it, who will?

- Ricardo "The Professor" K

Album Review: Crippled Black Phoenix - White Light Generator

"I am not what you say I am. I will not be what you tell me to be. You stare at me through a prism of delusion, of hatred, or propaganda, and I refuse to see myself in your lies. You try to turn me into a barroom anecdote, a whispered slur, a vile fairytale to fool the gullible. But I will not be the mirror for your self-loathing. You use accusations as weapons, scarring me where no blade can pierce. But I will not plead guilty to your crimes. I will not perform a spastic puppet dance to the lying chorus of your psyche." 

All too often musicians are reduced down to a handful of prominent components or, even worse, a series of buzzwords for the sake of uncomplicated consumption. It is refreshing then to see an act like England's Crippled Black Phoenix who not only strive to be hard to define but actively reject such flimsy labels. They have refuted all attempts at being categorised as a ‘super group’ or ‘collective’. In truth they are an entity. The music they make is a force of nature and the players sometimes seem more like acolytes to its grandeur than those who have performed it.

Their last album, 2012’s (Mankind) The Crafty Ape, was audacious even by prog rock’s own lofty standards: a concept-heavy triple record. The intention behind White Light Generator was to pare back some of the band’s more extravagant tendencies. Underneath all of the pomp and fluff they have become known for there is an elemental force yearning to break free. White Light Generator is a window into that fundamental energy and it is glorious to behold.

‘Sweeter Than You’ is a very disarming introduction to an album like this. It is a stripped back sing-along that serves as our formal introduction to new vocalist / guitarist Daniel Anghede. Every one of CBP’s vocalists has brought their own distinctive flavour to the final product and Anghede is no exception. However ‘Sweeter Than You’ does a very poor job at preparing you for the rest of the record, but that seems to be the point – disarm the listener then bombard them with bombast. It is well to get these formalities out of the way as the monstrous two-part ‘NO’ comes next. If anyone was alienated by the sweetness of the opening track then this is exactly the sort of thing that will bring them back into the fold.

Things only get darker and more turgid from there. 'Let’s Have an Apocalypse Now!' is vicious and uncompromising. The song is built around droning industrial clatter, the bones of krautrock, and a thoroughly menacing guitar riff. It just screams discomfort. But any “heavy” band can set out to horrify and intimidate. For CBP this is just one of their many talents. When they want to they are capable of acts of great beauty and awesome power. There are moments in 'Northern Comfort' purpose built to remind us that nobody does epic quite like prog rockers.

In among these monstrous compositions are sprinkled some spoken word sections. But this isn’t The Wall. The music never steps aside to let the story take over. You can’t expect these voices to tell you a coherent narrative (though, I suspect, many will try and fail to do just that). Rather these are here to set the mood, to set the scene, or to touch upon that album’s underlying themes whatever they might be. But it's all too easy to try and dissect and album with this sort of power and grandeur into a series of highlights. This isn't a loose collection of songs: it's an album, designed to be played from start to finish in one sitting. Anything less is not doing the material justice.

White Light Generator has been divided into two colour-coded halves; a black side and a white side separated by one of those disturbing spoken word sections (see the quote at the top of the review). These divisions were designed to convey different moods but the distinction isn’t so clear cut in practice. On the face of it the black side is heavier and the white side is gentler but after a few listens those lines are thoroughly blurred. The guitar heavy songs are more immediately attention-grabbing (and further towards the beginning) but the masters of rock through history have taught us that sometimes it’s the quieter songs that carry the most weight. It comes down to how you choose to perceive each half; is it the one that’s powerful but charming, or the one that’s charming but powerful?

To many, progressive rock is a style entirely relegated to the past tense. It was a movement of music that gained some traction nearly half a century ago and lost its popularity soon thereafter. To others it is a vital creative force that pushes musicianship and storytelling in music to greater and greater heights even in this day and age. It is certainly a genre that has its modern champions who have worked tirelessly to return it to the current lexicon of music. Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) and Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) are partners in crime and prominent genre leaders who have been unleashing their proggish manifesto on us through their various bands and projects for years now. But it is not a mainstream style like it was is the mid 70s. In the 21^st century perhaps traditional prog is fated to remain only in underground circles and nipping at the fringes of popular music. If Crippled Black Phoenix and White Light Generator are any example to go by this is a position in which the genre can still thrive. It was never meant to top charts and win mainstream acclaim. The fact that it ever did was merely a fluke – the last 40 years of lurking in the wings is just the long comedown from that impossible, unlikely high.

Rating: A-

Recommended tracks: Let's Have an Apocalypse Now!, Northern Comfort, Caring Breeds the Horror