Oregon's experimental trio, Menomena, are back again with their newest release, "Friend and Foe". With a sound similar to Animal Collective and The Books, Menomena provides an extremely unique sound with the inclusion of emotional vocals and unusual instrumentation.
What I find truly remarkable about the new Menomena release is how the group, although directly portrayed as a pop group, easily borders a darker and sadder sound while still illustrating an uplifting message through the music. Although the instrumentals are mainly major keyed and uniquely crafted with unusual instrumentation such as the glockenspiel and saxophone, the vocals are what brings a darker message to the table. With heartbreaking lyrics such as "Cover your ears, cover your eyes, cover your mouths. Silence, blindness, tasteless, violence", a darker message is portrayed through the vocals. Along with this, the vocal melodies themselves are often hushed and frightened, as if the overall picture the group is trying to illustrate is from the perspective of an innocent bystander witnessing the creation of something awful.
The one major flaw Menomena presents in this new album is the lack of flow between each song. Every song on "Friend and Foe" is a masterpiece by itself. But with each song brings a new mood and atmosphere, and as each piece comes to an end, the listener is left with a cliffhanger state of mind. The overall resolution of the album as a whole has ceased to exist because of this factor alone. Each song should be a chapter to an overwhelming story, but in "Friend and Foe", the emphasis is more on each song individually and not on the album. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however. Many people focus on a group's positive traits through their individual songs and not their albums.
In conclusion, Menomena have successfully written and recorded 12 great songs. But because of the lack of flow between the tracks, the album's message is shallow and weak. This is a talented group with great skill, but it's hard to fall in love with this album.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Hella - There's No 666 in Outer Space
Math rock and progressive supremes Hella are back at it again with their latest release, “There’s No 666 in Outer Space”, which was released January 30th. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Hella, they are a group from Sacramento, California consisting of two main members: Zach Hill on drums and Spencer Seim on guitar. Their lineup has changed over their nearly 6 year life span. On “…666…”, Hella features the talents of Aaron Ross on vocals, Josh Hill on rhythm guitar, and Carson McWhirter on bass guitar. With intense and speedy drumming, along with unusual, “nintendo-esque”, guitarmanship, Hella has developed an extremely unique sound with influences dating back to early Primus and a number of jam bands.
There’s no real way to describe the feeling the listener receives when listening to Hella. It’s an extremely acquired taste, for one thing. What some may find beautiful and genius, others may find noise and garbage. For this reason alone, “There’s No 666 in Outer Space” should be approached with caution.
What can’t be argued about this album is the vast range of genres covered in Hella’s unique sound. With the inclusion of a new vocalist, many new connections can be made to the band. When Ross’ voice is heard, the mind drifts to the thoughts of what a more aggressive Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta would sound like. The instrumentals, too, can remind some of The Mars Volta. But there’s something special about this new sound Hella offers. Influences of jazz fusion and avant-garde psychedelia are noticeably apparent throughout the album. With extremely complex time signatures and layers upon layers of random sound effects and instruments included in the mix, Hella’s well illustrated sound can easily overwhelm some.
Hella hasn’t failed to give the listeners an intense and operatic hour of tunes. But an emphasis must be made on how some will just hate this sound. Hella is notorious for their non-radio-friendly sound and bizarre musical antics. One writer’s opinion can’t express an overall consensus for how many stars this album should be given or whether it’s thumbs up or thumbs down.
In conclusion, “There’s No 666 in Outer Space” is an album worth buying, but no one is guaranteed to love it. Their sound is most definitely not for everyone, but to simply ignore a band like this because of their unusual sound would be an extremely foolish move. You have been warned.
OVERALL: RECOMMENDED TO THOSE WITH PATIENCE AND AN OPEN MIND
HIGHLIGHT: TRACK 6, “HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE”
There’s no real way to describe the feeling the listener receives when listening to Hella. It’s an extremely acquired taste, for one thing. What some may find beautiful and genius, others may find noise and garbage. For this reason alone, “There’s No 666 in Outer Space” should be approached with caution.
What can’t be argued about this album is the vast range of genres covered in Hella’s unique sound. With the inclusion of a new vocalist, many new connections can be made to the band. When Ross’ voice is heard, the mind drifts to the thoughts of what a more aggressive Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta would sound like. The instrumentals, too, can remind some of The Mars Volta. But there’s something special about this new sound Hella offers. Influences of jazz fusion and avant-garde psychedelia are noticeably apparent throughout the album. With extremely complex time signatures and layers upon layers of random sound effects and instruments included in the mix, Hella’s well illustrated sound can easily overwhelm some.
Hella hasn’t failed to give the listeners an intense and operatic hour of tunes. But an emphasis must be made on how some will just hate this sound. Hella is notorious for their non-radio-friendly sound and bizarre musical antics. One writer’s opinion can’t express an overall consensus for how many stars this album should be given or whether it’s thumbs up or thumbs down.
In conclusion, “There’s No 666 in Outer Space” is an album worth buying, but no one is guaranteed to love it. Their sound is most definitely not for everyone, but to simply ignore a band like this because of their unusual sound would be an extremely foolish move. You have been warned.
OVERALL: RECOMMENDED TO THOSE WITH PATIENCE AND AN OPEN MIND
HIGHLIGHT: TRACK 6, “HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE”
Post-Rock: A Look Into the Avant-Garde Sound
Have you ever found yourself bored with the world of pop music today? Have you ever longed for a genre of music with a deeper, more sophisticated sound, with musical techniques dating back to the years of the world’s greatest composers? Are you tired of how the term “radio friendly” refers to a specific list of musical attributes that you don’t find appealing? When pop music has let us down, there is a solution however. This solution is referred to as post-rock.
Post-rock is a relatively unknown genre of music coined by music critic Simon Reynolds. A genre in which musicians use “rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and power-chords.” While sharing simalarites to the genres of shoegaze and neo-classical, post-rock provides the listener with an extremely unique sound, combining influences of classical, jazz, metal, and folk origins. But there is no real way to describe the genre as a whole, for each performing act within the genre have created their own definition to the genre by constructing their own unclassifiable sound. Well known post-rock bands, such as Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai, use the guitar as a limitless tool, taking advantage of layers upon layers of effects pedals. Post-rock guitarists aren’t don’t play solos, and they don’t thrash or shred. Rather, post-rock guitarists become the conductors composers of their own symphonies. The emphasis of layered guitars is not always the key ingredient to the post-rock sound, however. Bands such as A Silver Mt. Zion and Sparrows Swarm and Sing often resort to a more literal symphonic arrangement, including the sounds of the cello, violin, vibes, and other classical instruments.
Whether using technology to the advantage of the string player, or using traditional string instruments in order to achieve a full sound, the result is always the same. The post-rock sound creates an ambient environment for the listener, consisting of a full orchestral sound and a lot of energy. Although considered very melacholic to many, this distinctive sound is just what the music world needs right now. A style of music that brings back the days of classical dominance. A style in which the players are not viewed as rock stars, but creators of brilliance. To all who feel frustrated with the world of popular music today, give post-rock a shot, you might end up discovering something you really like.
Resources:
BANDS: Mogwai, Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, Mono, Godspeed You! Black Emporer, Caspian, Do Make Say Think, Pelican.
SITES: www.thesilentballet.com, www.afterthepostrock.com, Last.fm
Post-rock is a relatively unknown genre of music coined by music critic Simon Reynolds. A genre in which musicians use “rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and power-chords.” While sharing simalarites to the genres of shoegaze and neo-classical, post-rock provides the listener with an extremely unique sound, combining influences of classical, jazz, metal, and folk origins. But there is no real way to describe the genre as a whole, for each performing act within the genre have created their own definition to the genre by constructing their own unclassifiable sound. Well known post-rock bands, such as Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai, use the guitar as a limitless tool, taking advantage of layers upon layers of effects pedals. Post-rock guitarists aren’t don’t play solos, and they don’t thrash or shred. Rather, post-rock guitarists become the conductors composers of their own symphonies. The emphasis of layered guitars is not always the key ingredient to the post-rock sound, however. Bands such as A Silver Mt. Zion and Sparrows Swarm and Sing often resort to a more literal symphonic arrangement, including the sounds of the cello, violin, vibes, and other classical instruments.
Whether using technology to the advantage of the string player, or using traditional string instruments in order to achieve a full sound, the result is always the same. The post-rock sound creates an ambient environment for the listener, consisting of a full orchestral sound and a lot of energy. Although considered very melacholic to many, this distinctive sound is just what the music world needs right now. A style of music that brings back the days of classical dominance. A style in which the players are not viewed as rock stars, but creators of brilliance. To all who feel frustrated with the world of popular music today, give post-rock a shot, you might end up discovering something you really like.
Resources:
BANDS: Mogwai, Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, Mono, Godspeed You! Black Emporer, Caspian, Do Make Say Think, Pelican.
SITES: www.thesilentballet.com, www.afterthepostrock.com, Last.fm
Welcome.
Hello all. My name is Max. I'm a student from Boston who has a passion for everything music. Music literature, obscure genres, performing, etc. I love it. This attribute of mine is the sole reason why I created this blog. I will post, review, and advertise the works of many underground and popular artists that I believe are worth listening too. If it is an independant artist, I'll be sure to upload the album in it's entirety for download. I hope to hear feedback from the readers, thank you.
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