Sonics VIII
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Sonics VIII
First and foremost, I'd like to thank Cedric, whoever you are, for the following albums. Without your presence at the library on Friday afternoon, I wouldn't have been able to browse through your iTunes library. I don't know who you are or how you look like, and I know I really should have risked the wrath of the librarians and looked for you, even if it meant that I should have screamed your name out loud. Either way, I don't remember a time in my career of music searching when albums came so fast and readily. I have yet to get my hands on a couple of albums out there, but it certainly beats looking around on your own when you can just browse through a library that belongs to someone on the same wavelength as yourself. The next time I find you on the school network, Cedric. I am not letting you get away. Again, whoever you are, thank you.
First and foremost, I'd like to thank Cedric, whoever you are, for the following albums. Without your presence at the library on Friday afternoon, I wouldn't have been able to browse through your iTunes library. I don't know who you are or how you look like, and I know I really should have risked the wrath of the librarians and looked for you, even if it meant that I should have screamed your name out loud. Either way, I don't remember a time in my career of music searching when albums came so fast and readily. I have yet to get my hands on a couple of albums out there, but it certainly beats looking around on your own when you can just browse through a library that belongs to someone on the same wavelength as yourself. The next time I find you on the school network, Cedric. I am not letting you get away. Again, whoever you are, thank you.
In A Safe Place by The Album Leaf
I remember when Sean told me about this band for the first band, I was confused as to whether or not "The Album Leaf" was the name of the band or the album. Anyway, people have been raving about The Album Leaf everywhere on the internet, but I just never really got around to check the band out. Actually, The Album Leaf isn't really a band, but a solo project by Jimmy LaVelle, a member of a couple of other bands in America. It does seem like I have been checking out a lot of solo projects by various artistes, with City and Colour being another one I reviewed in the last entry. Anyway, This album didn't win all the music awards for no reason at all. You can tell the influence of Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and Explosions in the Sky in this album. However, we are talking about the lighter side of Mogwai, the tenderness of Sigur Ros, and the explosive nature of Explosions in the Sky. The Album Leaf is deeply rooted in electronica, but it doesn't stray away from the traditional instruments that make music such a joy to listen to. Jimmy's vocals remind me of Sigur Ros' music, although not nearly as haunting and beautiful. He's still awesome, however, and this album has this strange calming effect unlike Sigur Ros. Don't get me wrong, it isn't a bad thing at all, it's just that I tend to get off on my head and wander to strange places with Sigur Ros, but The Album Leaf is kind of like your grandparents sitting you down and telling you a story about, well, a safe place. You feel safe when you listen to this album, because nothing else matters any longer. Because when you listen to it, you just kinda feel that everything is going to work out someday, and you will be A-OK.
I remember when Sean told me about this band for the first band, I was confused as to whether or not "The Album Leaf" was the name of the band or the album. Anyway, people have been raving about The Album Leaf everywhere on the internet, but I just never really got around to check the band out. Actually, The Album Leaf isn't really a band, but a solo project by Jimmy LaVelle, a member of a couple of other bands in America. It does seem like I have been checking out a lot of solo projects by various artistes, with City and Colour being another one I reviewed in the last entry. Anyway, This album didn't win all the music awards for no reason at all. You can tell the influence of Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and Explosions in the Sky in this album. However, we are talking about the lighter side of Mogwai, the tenderness of Sigur Ros, and the explosive nature of Explosions in the Sky. The Album Leaf is deeply rooted in electronica, but it doesn't stray away from the traditional instruments that make music such a joy to listen to. Jimmy's vocals remind me of Sigur Ros' music, although not nearly as haunting and beautiful. He's still awesome, however, and this album has this strange calming effect unlike Sigur Ros. Don't get me wrong, it isn't a bad thing at all, it's just that I tend to get off on my head and wander to strange places with Sigur Ros, but The Album Leaf is kind of like your grandparents sitting you down and telling you a story about, well, a safe place. You feel safe when you listen to this album, because nothing else matters any longer. Because when you listen to it, you just kinda feel that everything is going to work out someday, and you will be A-OK. Albums by the Band:
1) An Orchestrated Rise and Fall (1999)
2) One Day I'll Be On Time (2001)
3) In A Safe Place (2004)
4) Into the Blue Again (2006)
The Stix by Jaga Jazzist
To call this band a jazz band would be rather inaccurate, although they technically are. I am new to this whole fusion jazz thing, which is why everything just feels so alien and fascinating all at once. Anyway, this Norwegian band consists of so many members that it'd take up this entire entry alone. Suffice to say, that they have every possible instrument covered, everything from trumpets to trombones, from electric guitars to tubas, from clarinets to vibraphones. In this album, you find faint traces of jazz everywhere, but they are not evident enough to neatly categorize itself into the genre. The truth about this album is that you can't really put it into one section of a record store and let it stay there for a long time - you can't. You can hear influences from contemporary alternative bands, electronica, smooth and old jazz all in one, which is an interesting permutation of genres to say the least. Driven by strong melodies and rhythms, this band reminds me of Nomo, but so much more. You can't exactly anticipate what the next part of the song is like, which is signature for most jazz tunes out there. While this album sticks relatively close to the nature of the band, this band's other album What We Must strays a little into the realm of alternative and rock, which is equally fascinating and an eye-opener indeed. This is definitely an album I'd be hanging my head to for a while, at least that is what I did in the school library when I first heard it.
To call this band a jazz band would be rather inaccurate, although they technically are. I am new to this whole fusion jazz thing, which is why everything just feels so alien and fascinating all at once. Anyway, this Norwegian band consists of so many members that it'd take up this entire entry alone. Suffice to say, that they have every possible instrument covered, everything from trumpets to trombones, from electric guitars to tubas, from clarinets to vibraphones. In this album, you find faint traces of jazz everywhere, but they are not evident enough to neatly categorize itself into the genre. The truth about this album is that you can't really put it into one section of a record store and let it stay there for a long time - you can't. You can hear influences from contemporary alternative bands, electronica, smooth and old jazz all in one, which is an interesting permutation of genres to say the least. Driven by strong melodies and rhythms, this band reminds me of Nomo, but so much more. You can't exactly anticipate what the next part of the song is like, which is signature for most jazz tunes out there. While this album sticks relatively close to the nature of the band, this band's other album What We Must strays a little into the realm of alternative and rock, which is equally fascinating and an eye-opener indeed. This is definitely an album I'd be hanging my head to for a while, at least that is what I did in the school library when I first heard it. Albums by the band:
1) Jævla Jazzist Grete Stitz (1996)
2) A Livingroom Hush (2001)
3) The Stix (2003)
4) What We Must (2005)
The Fantastic Plastic Machine by Fantastic Plastic Machine
Tomoyuki Tanaka, the man behind the Fantastic Plastic Machine, has crafted some of the happiest tunes I have ever heard, without being incredibly pretentious or annoying. You know how happy dance music can be, they are just a bunch of random melodies stringed together, just hoping that you'd feel happy along with the music. They are usually just shots taken in the dark, you don't exactly feel the same way as the DJ, you just sort of feel a hint of it every once in a while. This album, however, takes the "fun" out of music and then amplifies it, so that it is impossible for one not to be infected by its fun. This album is just so fun to listen, at least I cannot keep my body while listening to this joyous album. I mean, the song Bachelor Pad was used in the Austin Powers music, how boring can the music get? I mean, I am not a fan of Austin Powers by any measures, but the music fits so well into the soundtrack. It's not difficult to imagine Mike Myers doing one of his strange dance routines to the beats of that song, and the same can be said with almost every track on this album. Tomoyuki has very skillfully blended dance, electronica, and bossa nova together in this album, something which I haven't heard before in my life. That is not to mention the various video game elements he has injected into some of the songs, and it kind of makes you feel like you are playing a very intense game of Tetris, or something. Simply put, awesome. Albums by the band:
1) The Fantastic Plastic Machine (1997)
2) Summer Review EP (1998)
3) Luxury (1998)
4) Beautiful. (2001)
5) Too (2003)
6) Imaginations (2006)
Toujours le Même Film by Urbs
I'm not sure if this is the first time somebody came up with the concept of creating a "fake movie soundtrack", but at least this is the first time I am hearing it. Urbs' album is the soundtrack to an imaginary movie, a concept that is unique and fascinating even to me. Seriously though, if this is an actual soundtrack to a movie, I might by tickets at the box office just for the soundtrack itself. It has such a great fusion of jazz, down-tempo, and quirky european electronica stuff capable only by european electronica artistes. I have only listened to this album once through, but you can kind of feel a running theme throughout the album: this ragged, raw, and honest european film about a man loving and hating a woman all at the same time. Of course, coffee and cigarettes are very important ingredients in this album, and it will enhance your listening experience for sure. I cannot get enough of this album, because of the way it acts as a real soundtrack to everything that you are doing. That is the kind of music that I love, the kind that paints a story to a seemingly boring and mundane scene. Let's try to listen to this album on a bus, or in a mall, or while you are cooking the same dinner for the hundredth time in the kitchen. The music changes everything, almost instantaneously.
I'm not sure if this is the first time somebody came up with the concept of creating a "fake movie soundtrack", but at least this is the first time I am hearing it. Urbs' album is the soundtrack to an imaginary movie, a concept that is unique and fascinating even to me. Seriously though, if this is an actual soundtrack to a movie, I might by tickets at the box office just for the soundtrack itself. It has such a great fusion of jazz, down-tempo, and quirky european electronica stuff capable only by european electronica artistes. I have only listened to this album once through, but you can kind of feel a running theme throughout the album: this ragged, raw, and honest european film about a man loving and hating a woman all at the same time. Of course, coffee and cigarettes are very important ingredients in this album, and it will enhance your listening experience for sure. I cannot get enough of this album, because of the way it acts as a real soundtrack to everything that you are doing. That is the kind of music that I love, the kind that paints a story to a seemingly boring and mundane scene. Let's try to listen to this album on a bus, or in a mall, or while you are cooking the same dinner for the hundredth time in the kitchen. The music changes everything, almost instantaneously. Albums by the band:
1) Toujours le Même Film (2005)
Little Things by Hanne Hukkelberg
I am a sucker for pretty album covers. I got the Sarah Blasko album because of how pretty the album cover is. It is a bonus, I suppose, if the album cover is pretty and the substance inside is prettier. That is the case of Hanne Hukkelberg, a Norwegian singer-songwriter who reminds me somehow of Imogen Heap with less of those fancy dresses and decorations around the keyboards and microphone. I am now growing very suspicious in regards to the kind of water people in northern europe drink. Seriously, how else do you explain the brilliant music that they churn out every once in a while? Anyway, Hanne Hukkelberg is kind of like Leslie Feist and Imogen Heap combined, and then add a bit of drugs and alcohol to the equation. She is a little bit more eccentric, and you can tell that from her style of music and the choice of instruments. Her voice has a very distinct quality, somehow like Yael Naim but perhaps more stable and smoother to the years. Yael Naim can get a little shaky in the higher notes, but not Hanne. Hanne's voice could be fitted into an old blues song and it wouldn't even make a difference to the intelligence of it all. Every once in a while, a quirky album like that comes along, and it reminds you that good music doesn't necessarily have to be fitting for an arena or a stadium. Sometimes, your bedroom is really all it takes for the music to touch you. Albums by the band:
1) Cast Anchor - EP (2003)
2) Little Things (2004)
3) Rykestrasse 68 (2006)
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