Olivia Rodrigo "Sour" (2021)

 

Being of a different generation, I only became aware of Olivia Rodrigo when the storm of ignorance descended upon Sour and its similarities to music of decades past. Is she reinventing the Punk Pop wheel? Or pinching from Paramore on Good 4 U? Crashing the record open with Brutal and its nod to Elvis Costello, I can see why the accusations flew her way. A lot of people don't understand that everything is a remix, we stand on the shoulders of giants and there is little true "originality" to be found. We're products of our surrounding environments, influence flows through one to the next. All music has its place in the tree of evolving lineage, branches spread, flowers blossom and bloom, looking all so similar yet with their own quirks.

I'm happy the has controversy lured me in. Olivia has a powerful, independent voice, a swaying mix of committal and vulnerability, with a loose grip in timely moments. This generation is growing up on auto-tuned vocals and its physically effecting how young people now sing. I'm more partial to the old ways and no vocal coach but her pitch and temperament seems to straddle the two. Strong notes cruise into crashes of softness and expression so wrapped up in the emotions her words paint bright.

Lyrically, a passing glance could simply dismiss these topics of high school love, heartbreaks and teenage toils as typical and naive yet despite the surface, something about how she picks apart her feelings seems so raw and direct. Its clear shes been through an awful break up, laying out both the bad and ugly alongside her righteous reactions, circling back to different aspects of the experience on multiple tracks. Her words weave brief insights in their bluntness, creating a remarkable impression what could seem like an atypical song. Of course her singing spearheads it all with these surges of vulnerability as she opens up an extraordinary range and delivery.

The introspection seems almost unintentional, as if she stumbles onto the pulse without reflective intent. Later in the record, Jealousy Jealousy highlights the thought and craft in her lyrics, narrating the difficult navigations of a generation growing up with social media exacerbating the thief of joy, comparison. The lightly shouted conclusion has a fantastic flow to it, kicking up a breezy gusto and riding it out. Creativity flows effortlessly it seems and her singing style is front and center of it all.

Her partnership with Dan Nigro, writing and production, seems like a perfect fit. Song structures are apt with piano chord melodies a frequent source of warmth. Much of the music comes with a lofty ambience, a sense of scale as songs drift dreamily with swells of lush and gentle sound amounting. All the instruments are orchestrated to grow and croon softly with power and persuasion. Giving it a keen ear one can hear layers of quiet instruments at work, led by minimalist percussion that's timely with a pallet beyond the basics. Its a fine footing for inspirations that much of the record holds in these loose, fluid and shapeless moments, only be suddenly snapped into place by an occasional upbeat Pop song like the successful hit Good 4 U.

I struggle to find the right words, the resonance between voice and instrumental is just fascinating yet so simple. Sour has a wonderful and curious chemistry, an individual set in the center who's got a seemingly typical, yet deeply rousing self expression to offer. Its much gentler than its big tracks suggest and the personal story embedded is moving. Its a shame people get all riled up by similarities. There is much to miss out on here! One I spotted myself was 1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back. It has a vibe keenly reminding me of Regina Spektor! Anyway, Sour is a fantastic album, can't wait to see where she goes from here!

Rating: 8/10

Napalm Death "Resentment is Always Seismic" (2022)

As the uncompromising titans of extreme music, now spanning five decades of music, news of a Napalm Death will always have me excitable. One can rely on them for quality, their fervor and tenacity an enduring quality continuing to yield fantastic releases to this day. Somewhat alike Apex Predator, I came off this thirty minute EP a fraction lukewarm. If its a maelstrom of ferocious aggression or uneasy atmospheres of burden and disgust, Napalm deliver swiftly. Navigating around a couple of cover tracks the following songs don't quite deliver the edge of its opening numbers.

Kicking off with Narcissus we steadily drift, steamrolling without breaks, a runaway train accelerating steadily and perpetuating the madness of its dizzying speeds. Riotous power chord riff machinations and pummeling blast beats flex of the groovy interchanges, culminating in a stomping conclusion. The pace evaporates immediately as Resentment Always Simmers takes a brooding stroll into the darkness with its stripped down percussion and tremolo guitar lick churning away at the dissatisfaction.

The following original songs lurk in the shadows of the ideas explored here. The choppy assault of Harris's frenetic power chord splaying, Barney's "osculating larynx" and the powerhouse rhythm section never quite scale these peaks again. People Pie is an interesting cover, mostly its lyrical proposition of animals eating humans provides food for thought in a disturbing atmosphere led by massive rumbling basslines of might and gristly texture. Don't Need It stands out for its blitz Thrash Metal guitar chops, wild unruly Slayer akin guitar solo and screechy vocals.

The closing title track too, a Burial Dirge of haunting vocals, unwelcome synths and heavy gloom makes its mark too. The key take away for me was how the covers stood out as the other songs circled similar ideas to that of the opening. With a lot of albums circling the thirty minute mark these days I can see why this is actually labeled an EP, perhaps in the bands mind not reaching the threshold of quality reserved for full lengths. Either way, its always fantastic to tune in with Napalm and hear what they are up to! Resentment is Always Seismic offers up interesting ideas worth your attention.

Rating: 6/10

Chaosbay "Asylum" (2020)

 

One of this years most exciting releases, Boxes, was my introduction to the German Progressive Metal outfit. Starting at a peak of evolution and working your way back can often taint the musical discovery. With Asylum, all I could initially hear was the distance from their now Periphery inspired, high octane foray of cutting edge melodic Metal. With a less punchy production, a lack of angular grooves and feisty aggression, I overlooked the emotional outpouring this record is. Sure, it has moments of might with chops of metallic onslaught and shouty screams but where Asylum shines is in scenic melody where the music transforms from powerful riff lead barrages to heart felt singing and moving lead guitar licks, which it has in a plentiful supply!

The heavy djent riffs, Metalcore breakdowns and jolting polyrhythmic grooves quickly subsided from focus as the lyrics started to raise up its streams of warmth and color. Passionate words of social-political consciousness took sway with stems of plain spoken ideals and morals expressed bluntly from a compassionate space. With each passing listen my attention shifted from the arsenal of competent bouncy riffs to the Pop Metal singing and acoustic led passageways that carve a path through the carnage. It all brings me back around to the albums cover. A calm of lush seas, present among the chaos of a fiery storm. The name too feels like a commentary on the feeling of being institutionalized by their perceived state of current society.

As a whole the dynamism isn't quite there. The frequent sways plunging into punchy metallic aggressiveness a little to typical for the times but in the melodic component it finds plenty of catchy endearing tunes, often amped up by timely guitar solos and warm singing. All in all its a really interesting record, one I feel like if I were forced to listen on a regular basis I'd probably end up loving as my enjoyment has only grown from the initial luke-warm reaction. Chaosbay clearly have something to offer the current trend in Metal and it seems as if they are on the cusp of a fantastic next step. There next full length effort will be one to keep an eye out for!

Rating: 7/10

Pop Will Eat Itself "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos" (1994)

This has been a wonderful "of the era" journey, now arriving at its final destination. Although it makes sense, I didn't expect them to land on an Industrial Rock tangent. Reshaping the 90s genre blending style, Pop Will Eat Itself build their eclectic on the backbone of rumbling baselines, cold distortion guitars and a mechanical percussive might. With a colorful infusion of electronic tones it otherwise sticks close to an Industrial blueprint. All except Familus Horribilus, a soap box statement shouted through megaphone raps with the Beastie Boys scent. They take aim at the royal family with political commentaries on the families affairs of the time, naming names and airing grievances at heritage and tax burdens. The instrumental is a fun surge of jive and warmth among a cold, metallic tinged record of subtle rhythmic forces.

Across its eleven tracks the music comes in various shades of intensity and experimentation with some detour into more sample oriented percussive tracks with break loops and the like. Everything's Cool has an obvious riff inspiration from Ministry's classic Thieves. Most remarkable is the opening Ich Bin Ein Auslander. Predating Rammstein by a year, its deployment of the German language and a stomping Kashmir alike riff seems like some bizarre foreshadowing of the Neue Deutsche Härte sound. Surely its just an odd coincidence right?

Either way Dos Dedos Mis Amigos is a decent record if your into the Industrial Rock sound. Nothing exception though, a couple of better songs with a few mediocre cuts too. Its undoubtedly the most consistent in tone, funneled through a production that struggles in patches with its layering of sounds. Which is notably less dense this time around, relying more on the drive of its mechanical rhythms and sharp distortion guitars. I'm aware the band reunited for another record but I'll put a pin in that for now.

Rating: 6/10

Arsis "A Diamond For Disease" (2005)

 

Here we have a phenomenal three track record, a thirteen minute title track epic accompanied by two other shorter and decent songs. I'm also shocked to learn this EP followed their debut release the year prior. Rather impressive for a band in there infancy, this song is a marvel that holds up well a decade and a half later. Notably the production also stands strong, it bold snappy aesthetic holding together a cacophony of dexterous drumming, littered with technical fills, choppy pedal rhythms and blast beats. Alongside, the guitars have brimming tones of dense aggression constantly in tandem with roaring lead guitars injecting their slew of blazing rapturous melodies.

Taking a page out of the Carcass playbook, Arsis bring forth a ferocious yet classic Melodic Death Metal sound, infused with a Technical edge led by the snarling serpent screams of James Malone who does not shy away from the inspirations of Jeff Walker. The song writing and execution is pure class, overshadowing any murmurs of imitation as Arsis step into the genre boldly with an arsenal of ideas and refreshing passion.

A Diamond For Disease is a wild ride of high octane action! Its title track assaulting on many fronts as it navigates several passages of busy instrumentation creating moments of uplift and madness as its endless fire of lead guitar licks bounces from bright melody to dizzying swirls of diminished notation. Behind it chug away fast paced stomps of grooves and complimenting power chords. The breakout of luminous classic Heavy Metal riffs reminiscent of Ozzy Osbourne's The Ultimate Sin era, a keen moment I adored. Its a moment of refreshment between some seriously layered chops of brutality. It can be a task to keep up with how much is going on instrumentally.

This is of course a good thing. The musicianship is marvelous both for technicality and inspiration. The following song lets up on the density, going for more groove and melody at an easier pace to follow. The third follows on getting a little harder on the drums. Both are decent tracks but that thirteen minute epic is one to remember!

Rating: 7/10

Lords Of Acid "Lust" (1991)

 

Deep into an obscure spotify playlist, I Sit On Acid immediately caught my attention with its sexually provocative intro leading into a obnoxious romp of darkly astral synths and hypnotic driving rhythms. I'd read up on the Belgium group Lords Of Acid many moons ago. Back then, they never sparked my interest but with my current pursuit of new sounds, this aggressive Electro-Industrial adjacent take on House and Dance known as New Beat has been a fascinating experience, if not a crass one.

The crude sexual themes and controversy it probably stirred at the time are little more than a smirking gloss on the music to give it another feisty edge. The instrumentals already do the heavy lifting here. What I've discovered is powerful and dense. Hard hitting saw waves and buzzing synths sound far more intense and aggressive than anything I've heard for this era before. Bold obnoxious keys are crammed in layers, squeezed between the relentless punching percussion with its classic Dance hi-hats. This is classic club and rave music for drugs and much more no doubt.

These harsh aesthetics make for a mini cacophony of attitude with decadent melodies and mean bass lines being rotated into focus. Nestled in are samples and fantastic yet cliche early 90s singing from Jade 4U. If you've spent any time with this era you'll hear too many tones and samples to count. There is obviously some keyboards, sample packs and software of the time that were heavily used and done to great effect!

 At sixty minutes it can test ones own tolerance, the jagged nature of the music feels incessant if not your primary cup of tea. I'm mostly blown away by how dark and dirty this music is for the year of its release. Its another missing piece in the musical puzzle. Of the praises I preach, I mostly talk to a handful of songs like I Sit On Acid that nail the vibes. Other songs struggle to land on such enthralling soundscapes, the track Hey Ho! being an oddity as it fails to incorporate Disney's seven dwarfs thematically. Overall Lust has got mediocrity with a few sparkly gems poking out between.

As for its crude nature it mostly feels harmless and fun, tongue in cheek for fun yet the self evident theme on closing track "I Must Increase My Bust" is contentious when it comes to self image and the damaging effects of comparison with others. Apart from that one blemish, this record has been a grooving blast! Such a niche discovery.

Rating: 6/10

Dark Sky "Othona" (2017)

 

My resistance to the algorithm was foolish! Once again I've been served up a fantastic electronic artist delving into the Ambient, Ethereal, Downtempo vibes that I just adore! Othona is a soothing record of deceptive simplicity and meditation, a series of soft synth resonances exploring unraveling energies. Gently gathering its gusto, these surges of groove and melody flourish out of the soothing states, morphing into animated flashes of color, sometimes in passive friction with its slight dissonance.

These tones and aesthetics achieved through configuration of saw waves and synth osculations, seem to always carry a slight unease. Its as if something is always marginally out of tune yet also fostered by the other instruments, at a distance. The vision and inspiration at play is clear and thus births a sweet magic from this careful curation of the subtle dissonance. Its brilliantly handled, steered to a warm place.

Othona's array of buzzing synths aren't the soul focus! Across this record, the pace holding percussion often morphs into classic House and Dance beats with deep pumping bass and tight shuffling grooves. Its always a gentle process, as much of the music incrementally grows through the motions, so do the percussive lines. It allows these songs to be in a consistent state of evolution, moving us from calming serine meditative soundscapes into easy crooning Downtempo drives of flow.

I'm impressed at how this record comes together. Song after song holds my attention with a soothing nature. I could drawn attention to some similarities in style with other artists but I really think Dark Sky holds their own for the most part. Just one song, Angels, could hold a candle to Brian Eno's legendary An Ending (Ascent), as quite the comparable vibes emanate. This one is worth checking out if you're even mildly curious from my words. The mood it educes is worth it alone. Great Stuff!

Rating: 7/10

Pop Will Eat Itself "The Looks Or The Lifestyle" (1993)

 

I think I've developed a mildly amusing "love hate relationship" with Pop Will Eat Itself! I'm undoubtedly leaning on the love side however their "of the era" occasionally sours. It often depends on the mood. This Is The Day struck the perfect stride of nostalgia, a wild crossover that nailed early Hip Hop and the shape of Metal at the time. Since then, they have not stuck in one place stylistically. Its been hit and miss, The Looks Or The Lifestyle seems like a response to the emergence of Grunge as an update in band chemistry has prominent distortion guitars on almost every track of the album.

Continuing on with the 90s Dance and Electronic scene sounds, the group find a more consistent fusion with grungy guitars, lively percussive breaks and an injection of electronic instruments reflecting the era. Its bold and unabashedly 90s, often a little cringe in its early shout raps, the British accents sung strong. The record rolls out with a strong string of tracks, pumping drums charge forth, a wall of samples and synths thrive between dynamic guitars and powerful baselines. It leads into their most popular charting song, known as Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies!

Performed by stabbing melodic drum synths hits, its main melody is a turn off in an otherwise decent track. I think its theme that births it success, essentially riffing on tropes from the perspectives of a movie character. The album starts to diversify after. Guitar tones get shaken up. The sampling and synths reach into new territory, arriving at Urban Futuristic. Its a hard hitting mash up of early Drum n Bass, Thrash Metal and bizarre cheesy synth tones. What it lacks for in classic it makes up for in ambition!

Its this string of gutsy tracks, fun experimentation and bold crossovers that get the thumbs up from me. After them, the final four cuts stagnate in quality, drifting into the tired and dated. It feels intentional that the best material is front loaded. Left a little soured, they exaggerate the cheese its great songwriting diverted early on. With just one record left before their split in 1996, it will be a sound place to conclude the journey having been fed to full on this reflective nostalgia exploration.

Rating: 6/10

Aurora "The Gods We Can Touch" (2022)

 

For the last two and a half weeks I've been rather engrossed In Aurora's latest offering. Its a warm invitation into a keen world of bright enduring melodies and fantastical sincere singing. Forged with a little folkish charm, it remains grounded and authentic. Once again Aksnes's voice carries a tune so powerfully, illuminating the already glowing notation of her well crafted backing instrumentals. Much of the music rests on a subtler moody sombre side, with these periodic bold strides into Electropop territory, stirring an excitement she remedies with words sung sublimely.

Picking apart the particulars of ones voice is a service words can't quite achieve but she has swiftly become one of my all time favorites. On this outing the performance expands with lyrical themes becoming more personal and intimate than I recall before. A handful of songs feel rather direct and vulnerable, an insight to personal struggles. Its endearing, bringing more humanity and passion to the music, less lofty in concept and theme. Not a sole focus, it arrives in balance with ideas more common for her.

The album has a great sense of flow, many moments of Ethereal calm seem to intersperse the jovial strides, as perky melodies played on pianos, strings and all between ride the surges of energy that arise. The compositions are expertly crafted with percussion guiding the songs through organic calms to then give its main moments more punch. Production is wonderful too, everything feels snugly fit in with reverberations perfectly measured to give the music depth and resonance.

 At fifteen minutes, things do fizzle out. A handful of the last few songs feel underwhelming in comparison. Its final song, A Little Place Called The Moon, has an experimental temperament. Aurora makes it work but the end result seems so different from anything before it. Its a hazy passage that seems the record off on a ghostly note. The Gods We Can Touch isn't perfect but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here and its packed with some new favorites to return to on occasion!

Rating: 8/10

Kero Kero Bonito "Intro Bonito" (2013)

Dazzled by the dense musical exuberance of Civilization II, I now venture back to Kero's origins. This debut mixtape, Kero Bonito, was quite the surprise! A warm, happy and pleasant record finding its inspirations in the mundane and putting a quirky spin on its simple themes. This take shapes on two fronts. Singer Sarah Perry, often interchanging Japanese and English, sings slightly spoken accounts of many passages of daily life, distilling simple thoughts and concepts into plain language. Its charming, carrying no burdens or hardship, an innocent, carefree and fun little journey.

Instrumentally this spirit is captivated wonderfully by its embrace of often bold and cheesy synths from decades past. Drums punch and kick away in lean environments with a handful of chirpy synths chiming in, often punctuated by timely pauses for brief silences. Sprinkled with cultural and stock samples between its shuffling grooves, the themes draw from a variety of nostalgia and foreign places. Housed in great compositions, its brash boldness is truly endearing. Even the use of old 8-bit cat and dog synthesized effects bashed obnoxiously come across as good spirited fun.

 

Its an oddball record, a mad house of silliness landing on a genuine warmth. Not purely quirky though, flushes of creativity and dexterous keyboard playing inject bursts of magic on occasion. Its also quite colorful, bright and uplifting, a record to steer your mind firmly away from anything troubling. My favorite track has to be Babies Are So Strange. Everything about this song is silly yet in a great spirit, landing with a slight sense of tongue in cheek deepness on the "Child producing machine, that's what nature has designed me to be" line. This record has been a breath of fresh air, so fun and easy going!

Rating: 7/10

Koreless "Agor" (2021)

 

Now at the mercy of Spotify's algorithms, I find myself immersed in the unknown, the platform feeding me new names one after another from its playlist system. I have to be picky with where to go. On occasion, one artist will captivate my intrigue more so than the others. Because of the songs Black Rainbow and White Picket Fence, I had to go deeper into this curious musician who's take on electronic music was off the beat and track from what I am used to. Glitched out and mysterious, its popular songs morph closer to normal conventions. Getting deeper into Agor reveals a few typical fundamentals have been torn up and thrown out.

These buzzy saw wave symphonies simmer and fizzle in both texture and tone. Metamorphic and fluid, its oscillations sway and groove in ever changing directions. Somewhere in the mix, something holds center, either the variety of plucked instruments or bursts of rhythm and tempo that come and go. Even then, notes curiously slide up and down in pitch. Percussion is illusive, often forming out of burgeoning instrumentation, feeling occasionally poly-rhythmic as its shuffling glitches and choped up vocal samples make for mirages and illusions.

The result is unique, an identity unlike much I've heard before it. Yesterdays Oneohtrix Point Never has a similar experimental quality but Koreless homes in on something particular, with varying success to my taste. Again it is convention that aids aesthetic into form as many of these songs go on ciphered tangents. Melody rubs shoulders with frequency and sequence. Rhythm seems to had no steady footing and the Nordic singing sampled is rearranged in the most curious manor. The take away is similar, another curious experiment in sound design with a few moments of convention one can fall into, otherwise attention is jilted by all the quirks of its inspiration.

Rating: 6/10