10.29.2014

A review of Marilyn Manson's "Third Day Of A Seven Day Binge"













It appears as though Marilyn Manson will soon make good on his threat to put out a new studio album, as exemplified by the release, yesterday, of the brand new track, "Third Day Of A Seven Day Binge", which you can listen to and download here.
If you want to.
It's not very good.
Ah. Now, there's a phrase that Marilyn Manson has probably had to deal with a lot over the past decade or so..."not very good". This is because his music over the past eight years or so has been...not very good. A tradition he seems to be proudly carrying forward with his new material.

The new single consists of the title being repeated (squawked, mumbled, screamed etc.) several times, some worn out word play, if you can even call it that ("I can't decide if you wear me our / or wear me well"), and a lot of slurry humming/moaning/pooping (?) noises, all set to yet another uninspired, tired and easily forgotten blur of sound, probably perpetrated by Twiggy "I'm Almost Fifty Years Old And People Still Call Me Twiggy" Ramirez. Manson's vocals are muzzy and grumpy, sounding like someone just shook him awake and demanded that he "sing", which would also explain the repetition.

I used to be a Manson fan. Portrait Of An American FamilyAntichrist Superstar and The Golden Age of Grotesque are all fantastic albums, the first two for their raw, reeking viscera, and the latter for its twisted style and devilishly fun lyricism, but, being a Manson fan over the past eight years or so has been like being in an abusive relationship, and every time he announces a new album that will redefine/reinvent/reinvigorate MUSIC ITSELF, I say the exact same thing: "Maybe things will go back to the way they were...maybe things will get better."

Will I ever learn?

P.S. On top of everything else is the fact that the new Manson logo (as seen above) looks a heck of a lot like the early 90's Nine Inch Nails logo used on the Sin single.
Just saying.

10.24.2014

Some thoughts on "The Evil Within" (on PS4)
























SPOILERS AHEAD!

Some thoughts on The Evil Within, which I played and completed in about 25 hours on the normal setting on PS4.

Wonder what it would have been if it we're just next gen. Feel like I'm going to be saying and thinking that a lot over the next few...half a decade.
This looked like a really nice PS3 game, but I've seen better on a PS3, so, you guys need to up your lazy ass game.

Overall, this was a nice blend of Resident Evil (resource management, mood, settings...in fact, sometimes the settings were so Resident Evil (specifically RE 4) that I had to wonder what new stuff Shinji Mikami has up his sleeve) and Silent Hill (the lack of explanation, the uncertainty, the vaguely mystic storyline). Anything original? Erm...

I like some of the Lovecraft feel. The catacombs were absolutely fantastic. Bosses varied. 
The first appearance of Laura was utterly horrifying and I really wish they hadn't had it in the fucking trailer, because that would have been an excellent pants-shitting moment for me. Her one-hit-kill thing got old quick though. 
As for the Keeper...ugh... We need to just accept that nothing will ever be as awesome as Pyramid Head and move on from putting different geometric shapes on top of bad guys' shoulders in order to make them look intimidating.
I'll stop there.

Established early that nothing is real. Kind of like that, although it seems like they built on an easy out if they need one.

The protagonist is milk. Gritty milk, but, still, milk. 

Good atmosphere, very good at times, and kudos for not relying on jump scares.

Glad they didn't have the old run-around-shooting-at-the-huge-bad-guy fight at end. Enjoyed the last fight.

The explanations for what the enemies were were good and bad, the descriptions (that you'll only see if you go through every entry in the Model Viewer) were at times a bit of a stretch. I have a feeling the sketches came first, then the back story.

Glad there were no helpless, busty women to save/oogle. Even after finishing the game, no ridiculous costumes to be found. Way to make a stand, Shinji. 

Could have done with a bit more exposition at the end.

Looking forward to the DLC, the Kidman stuff, anyway. Really hope we get a clearer picture of who Mobius are and what the fuck was going on.

Had a lot of fun with Evil Within and glad to have another horror franchise to look forward to along with whatever Resident Evil and SIlent Hill have coming next.

10.21.2014

A review of The Flaming Lips' "With A Little Help From My Fwends"




















Do you like the Beatles?
Do you like the Flaming Lips?
Well, then, you might like this…depending on how precious you are about the former and how forgiving you are about the latter.
It would also help if you enjoy reverb and hashish.
Yeah.

Several tracks are almost completely ruined by overloud elements, specifically “Good Morning Good Morning” and the first three tracks of the album, which is either stupendously ballsy or stupidly obnoxious with regards to accessibility. In either case, it’s not clever. Others feel like your basic Beatles cover: nothing too weird or adventurous or offensive; just someone else playing a Beatles song. Some of the more novel takes include the charming vulnerability of Dr. Dog and Chuck Inglish’s off-key rendition of “Getter Better”*, the man/machine duet of “When I’m Sixty Four” and the choice to put Maynard of Tool on vocals for “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”. 
Personally, I only enjoyed a handful of what’s offered; the quiet, almost menacing haze of Electric Wurms’ “Fixing A Hole”, the lightness, flow, and drum machine splish-baff of both “She’s Leaving Home” (Phantogram and Julianna Barwick) and “Lovely Rita” (Tegan & Sara with Stardeath and White Dwarves), and, God help me, Miley Cyrus and Moby on “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”**, which would have made a great single but for those goddamn idiot drums.  

As this is a pretty schizophrenic release, I’m going to offer a few different opinions:

First, if you are a Beatles purist, you’re probably going to hate this as it might seems a bit like ruination and sacrilege.

If you love the Beatles and love hearing their music reinterpreted…well, you still might hate this, but it’s an interesting, multi-textured hate you’ll be feeling.

If you love Flaming Lips, the Beatles and psychotropic drugs; lock yourself in for the weekend because you have found your home.

And, finally, if you know of the Beatles and aren’t the Flaming Lips the band that did that “she uses tangerines” song? Then…how did you find this review? Sod off.

In preparation for this, I listened to the cover album first, then revisited the original before returning to the cover project. Was everything added necessary? Absolutely not. Was everything added interesting? Eh. No. Some of it is, but by no means everything.
It’s mostly fun though, and, if Flaming Lips are about anything, it’s having fun.
And reverb.
And hashish.
Seriously, there’s too much behind this album. I can't live your lives for you. Did I love it? No. Were there a few cool interpretations? Sure.
Go. Be free. Make choices.





* “Charming”, though not really “good”.


** I found it startling how much Moby sounds like Jim Rash from Community. Look it up. Seriously.

10.13.2014

A review of Loscil / Fieldhead's "Fury and Hecla"























Steam, ice, water, pixels.

Loscil and Fieldhead’s (not really a) collaboration, Fury and Hecla, has light reflected backwards on smoke, violins, a high mass performed in a cathedral of steam, and a crazy rain stick filled with glitchy ice crystals. If none of that entices you…well, I hear One Direction is pretty shitty.

Ambient musicians Loscil (Scott Morgan) and Fieldhead (Paul Elam) shared echoes and ghosts of each others’ sounds throughout the six track release (the former taking the odd tracks, the latter taking the even), so everything feels connected; creating a massive, continuous, sonic landscape. There are freezing oceans (“fury”), blizzards (“with northerly winds”), a volcano (“hecla”), an ancient haunted mansion (“helluland”), and an abundance of bells, tolling forever (“northumberland”).

While Elam takes less time to get to the meat of his pieces, Morgan is more languorous, assuming you’ll make the effort and embark on a slightly longer journey, which you should. On the whole, I could have done with a bit more from Fieldhead, but I appreciate the oddly humble decision of his to put more content into less space.

It feels lazy just calling this “ambient”, so I won’t. This is the music I would want with me if ever I became an interplanetary explorer. And, if any interplanetary explorers are reading this, go and check out Loscil / Fieldhead’s Fury and Hecla, because it’s a lot better than listening to the empty suck of the vacuum of space.

10.06.2014

A review of Thom Yorke's "Tomorrow's Modern Boxes"





















Thom Yorke is a pretty innovative guy, yes? We can agree on that?
Good, so I’m going to skip over the part where I remind you of how Radiohead chose to distribute In Rainbows and the whole “releasing this surprise album through BitTorrent so he can see if it might serve as a viable method for artists to etc.”.*
Cool?
Excellent.

Overall, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes could be considered to pick up right where The Eraser left off in 2006. Probably not AMOK**, as TMB isn’t as intricate; not that that’s a bad thing. I find Yorke’s voice works best when it has empty spaces to fill and bounce around in. The album’s opener, “A Brain In A Bottle”, is probably my least favorite track here, which is good, because I like it. The dark waves of “Guess Again!” are fantastic, Yorke is a goddamn gloom sculptor. The warbly, NES dungeon feel of “Interference” is downright chilling, finding a grudgingly repentant Yorke sitting in his sunken ruins, the One, True King of Gray. Things get a little brighter on “The Mother Lode” (on which I could see Waronker or Refosco lending some skitters)***, but it’s a nervous brightness, you’ll want to squint or you might hurt your eyes. The hyper jitters of “The Mother Lode” are juxtaposed nicely with the syrupy, almost-lazy, faux-hip-hop beat of “Truth Ray”. Then, the last three tracks evolve from percussive, glitchy boink into blurred, saturnine rivers into, finally, dolorous etheria. The second of those last three, “Pink Section”, makes me want to wonder what a full instrumental release from Yorke would sound like…

Whether people consider Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes a "real" album or not, it's a good album; lacking only the months and months of costly promotion real fans don't want or need. It becomes an even better album when you consider that Yorke could have used anything to test out this method of distribution. More artists should surprise their fans with flowers and candy made of new music more often. They'd probably get more head.
Keep it up, you groundbreaking, space alien trendsetter, you.





* As far as the question of “will this manner of distribution work to revolutionize blah blah blah”, I’m leaning towards no, as a lot of (uninformed) people do not and most likely will not ever trust anything with the word “torrent” in the description…the filthy Luddites.

** If you’re not familiar with AMOK is…why are you reading the review of a Thom Yorke solo album? P.S. Here’s my review of AMOK.


*** Drummer and percussionist (respectively) who’ve both worked with Yorke.

10.05.2014

A review of A Winged Victory For The Sullen's "Atomos"























I can't think of many artists whose name better reflects their art. Everything Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie and contemporary classical composer Dustin O'Halloran have released under the moniker A Winged Victory For The Sullen (AWVFTS) has the feeling of a costly achievement, a balance of triumphant glory and infinite sadness; a warm, sun-drenched lake in a quiet woods just within sight of a graveyard. They explore the true, exquisite beauty of melancholy.

I had the pleasure of experiencing Atomos in its intended setting: as the accompaniment to Random Dance Company founder, Wayne McGregor's new work of the same name*. Something interesting I noticed while going through the album divorced of its original setting was that the simplistic, tragic splendor inherent in the music was far more present. 

The instrumentation leans heavily towards piano and strings, although there is a strong electronic presence as well. Atomos opens with "Atomos I" and its breathtaking lunar swells, "Atomos V" is underscored by a watery pulse that, while a touch jarring, adds a welcomed layer of texture. "Atomos VI", with its gentle throbs and waves of light, and subdued explosions of color, is my favorite piece here. One of the themes explored in the dance piece as well as the music is technology, and its potential destructive capabilities, as exemplified, perfectly, by the distinct future-as-viewed-from-the-past feel of "Atomos VII", the disturbing blur of truncated, jabbering voices floating underneath the troubled ocean of "Atomos IX" and "Atomos X", which could be the sound of the very end of human civilization, brought on by information poisoning. The album closes with "Atomos XII", which centers around a five note phrase, repeating throughout, cold and lonely.

Atomos is more focused than AWVFTS's self titled debut, utilizing a richer palette of sounds in more varied environs, and, although it was created to accompany the gorgeous Wayne McGregor dance piece, the music undeniably stands on its own as an emotional masterpiece, shining darkly, like tears at night.





* You might know his work from the Atoms For Peace video for "Ingenue", which he also choreographed.

A review of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' "Gone Girl" score




















It's clear that someone is lying...

From the first mistrustful, tentative, unsure waves of "What Have We Done To Each Other?" all the way through to the final, grinding, menacing throbs of "At Risk", the one thing we know for certain is that something is wrong, something is being hidden, someone is lying. About what and to what end, we can't be sure, it's just...a feeling; gooseflesh on the back of your neck and arms, a faint, almost imperceptible noise you can only hear when you aren't listening for it.

This is Reznor and Ross' third foray into scoring the films of David Fincher, and Gone Girl is their most subtle work to date. The main themes of the music perfectly reflect those of the relationship between the two main characters in the film, Nick and Amy Dunne; specifically those of suspicion, distrust and a bright, brittle veneer obscuring a darker, perhaps deadly, truth. While the Dragon Tattoo score worked wonderfully at lowering the temperature of the film and the Social Network score was excellent but as incongruous as...well, a Nine Inch Nails album at a Jewish fraternity party, the score for Gone Girl actually informs us of the characters and their hidden motives.

Rather than break down every single track, as I did with Reznor and Ross' score for Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo*, I'll just focus on some of the standout pieces, which consist of about a third of the twenty four track, eighty minute album: "Clue Two" is steeped in sinister mystery with some excellent strings emerging from the crunching thump about three quarters of the way through. The soft, feverish warmth of "Something Disposable" is utterly horrifying, especially once the choking, gasping noises kick in. The feel of "Technically, Missing", with its chugging yet subdued guitars rising and falling in crescendo could fit in on The Fragile. "Background Noise" is a straight up piano piece with a whisper of menace hiding in the light, it also shares elements of "Perihelion" from the Dragon Tattoo score. "The Way He Looks At Me" is, basically, the sound of the Dunne's relationship decaying and dissolving right in front of us while "Strange Activities" is the sound of some entity constructed from electric wheelchairs chasing you. Finally, "Just Like You" starts out sounding like a combination of something from Silent Hill, "A Warm Place" and Radiohead's "Everything In Its Right Place", then, about halfway through, becomes the most standout moment on this album: an almost loungey piano solo from Reznor, literally unlike anything he's done before.

I've said it before and, here I go, saying it again: a lot of Reznor's score work (not so much his work as Nine Inch Nails), has a very Akira Yamaoka feel to it.** In fact, about a third of the Gone Girl score would fit in perfectly (and perhaps better?) that some of Yamaoka's original compositions. Why am I bringing this up? Because I want Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to score the new Silent Hill game. Listen to "Consummation" while watching some of the more nightmarish footage from any Silent Hill game and tell me that this pairing wouldn't be perfect.
Go on.
I'll wait.
...

Sorry. This is something about which I feel very strongly.
Anyway, when I first heard that Reznor was going to get out of his musty little studio and actually utilize a traditional orchestra for Gone Girl, I was thrilled, as I've wanted him to do so for years. While there's not as much as I would have liked (should have guessed the majority of the instrumentation would only be manipulated and perverted to serve as his tools), seeing him step into the arena of crusty composers like Zimmer, Williams and all the other fossils who get dusted off every time Hollywood needs to ram something down our throats or up our asses, and using their tools in ways they'd never think to was fantastic and will, hopefully, serve to both garner Reznor and Ross the regard they deserve and light a fire under those other guy’s asses. That being said, I feel as if something is lacking on this album; perhaps that was the intention or at the behest of Fincher, or, perhaps, Reznor took on more than he could handle, conducting a nationwide tour of the States while working on this project at the same time, a tour which wrapped up exactly a month before the release of the album. Both of Reznor and Ross' earlier scores were much more involved.

Ah, look at me.
Complaining.

The Gone Girl score is something similar, yet completely different from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The addition of a traditional orchestra, and seeing in which brilliantly horrible ways they use and misuse it, adds a new dimension to their work, something not yet seen. I'm very interested to see what Reznor takes from this and how he applies it to Nine Inch Nails and How to destroy angels in 2015.





* Which you can read here, if you're mad / bored enough.

** Composer and sound designer for the majority of the Silent Hill survival horror game series since the late 90's.

10.02.2014

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - September 2014

Nine Inch Nails

Just a few days ago, Reznor & Ross released their latest score for the latest Fincher film adaptation of a popular literary work, namely, Gone Girl.
Still sitting with it, but, overall, it's a lot more subtle than their previous work on The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, for better or worse. Planning on seeing the movie as soon as it's out as I'm curious just how much of the score will be utilized. After the weirdness with Dragon Tattoo (the fact that, of the 39-track, two hour and fifty-four minute score, I'd say less than a quarter of it was actually in the film), I find myself pensive.
Here's the whole thing on NPR.
Should be a review up soon.

All my other bands are either touring, recording new stuff, in post-tour hibernation or douchebags, so I'll leave it at that.

As I'm now doing reviews for SoundBlab, I have experienced some new stuff this month: the first is the new album by the band Maxi Bacon. The album, Maci Baxon, is what a lot of people would call unlistenable.
Those people are cowards.
Read the review and then listen, if you dare.

Then, there's the latest from industrial noise artist/pretty, blonde New Yorker, Margaret Chardiet aka Pharmakon. While the story of her new album, Bestial Burden, is pretty amazing, the flatness of the album itself doesn't really do it justice. Review just went up on SoundBlab.

Finally, the brand new, not-as-amazing-as-Drukqs Aphex Twin album, Syro was released as well. This is Richard D. James' first album as Aphex Twin in thirteen years, and I didn't love it. REVIEW HERE.

Over the next few days or so, aside from the Gone Girl score review, I'll also be reviewing the new A Winged Victory For The Sullen album, Atomos, which accompanied the Wayne McGregor dance piece of the same name and the brand new, completely out of the blue Thom Yorke album, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes (from which you can check out the darkly hypnotic video for "Brain In A Bottle" as well as see how Yorke is, yet again, trying to revolutionize how music is distributed to the fans, here).

And, if you thought this was a bit of a lackluster month, don't blame me, blame the bands I like for not spacing out their release and touring schedules to better suit my writing goals.
Twats.