Priming the pump for their new 2008 studio album, the Cure invite five of their modern-day disciples to remix the first round of singles from their forthcoming 4:13 Dream - all released during the summer of 2008 - for theHypnagogic States EP. All the acts here - Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars, Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Jade Puget of AFI and Cure opener 65 Days of Static - do demonstrate some clear debt to the Cure, which manifests not in a doomy, sultry fashion but oddly, in mixes that are somewhat reminiscent of early-'90s Cure B-sides - an appropriate enough sound given the ages of the musicians, but not quite the classic Cure that provides their inspiration (although to be honest, apart from parts of MCR and AFI, none of these bands really sounds that much like the Cure, they just like Robert Smith's makeup)…
The Cattle Raid of Cooley is a central part of the eighth-century Ulster cycle of heroic tales and is Ireland's nearest approach to a great epic. It tells the story of a giant cattle-raid, the invasion of Ulster by the armies of Medb and Ailill, queen and king of Connacht, and their allies, seeking to carry off the great Brown Bull of Cuailnge (Cooley). Chanting the Light of Foresight is based on this legend and was written in 1987 for the Rova saxophone quartet.
Beautiful box set with remastered Showbiz and Origin of Symmetry plus an abundance of rarities spread out over 4 vinyl LPs and 9 CDs. The CD's are all tucked away in an extensive hardcover book chronicling the early days of Muse. Listen to the music while exploring the book. Great concept. A must for any Muse fan.
Swiss experimental rock quartet Sonar (whose name is a portmanteau of "sonic" and "architecture") comprise guitarists Stephan Thelen and Bernhard Wagner, bassist Christian Kuntner, and drummer Manuel Pasquinelli. The bandmembers bring an array of talents uniquely suited to creating Sonar's precise and rhythmically complex yet spacious and streamlined post-minimalist sound, harmonically idiosyncratic with the guitars and bass tuned in tritones (an interval given the Latin name diabolus in musica – the devil in music – during medieval times). The California-born Thelen is a strong admirer of the early- to mid-'70s (Starless and Bible Black) and early- to mid-'80s (Discipline) editions of King Crimson, and participated with the Venezuela-born Wagner in Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft seminars in the '90s. Thelen (Sonar's principal composer) also studied classical guitar, and he earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Zurich.
DAVE KERZNER is already known to me due to the well-made Sound Of Contact debut 'Dimensionaut' from the year 2013, which shows him handling the keyboards exclusively. 'Static' yet is his second solo album in the meanwhile, where he has invited some well known collaborators to support him. It's always tricky when having such names like Steve Hackett, Nick D'Virgilio or Colin Edwin decorating the credits…
The invention and introduction of electrically amplified instruments – most notably the guitar and steel guitar – began slowly transforming every branch of pop music beginning in the mid- to late '30s, shifting emphasis in bands from an ensemble approach to one that allowed for sharper sound definition and easily heard instrumental solos, all of which made the world, at least the recorded version of it, more defined and, well, louder. For the Western swing, honky tonk, and country genres, the change came when steel player Bob Dunn went electric with his group Musical Brownies in 1935.
Steve Wynn went from the lower reaches of the Los Angeles underground music scene to major critical acclaim practically overnight with the release of the Dream Syndicate's debut album, The Days of Wine and Roses, in 1982. It proved to be the first act in a long and fascinating career in which Wynn matured into one of the canniest songwriters in rock, penning smart, flinty lyrics that told perceptive tales of human behavior both noble and otherwise, married to tough, engaging melodies full of muscular guitar work…
Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980–1988 hovers vibe–wise between two distinct poles within Light In The Attic’s acclaimed Japan Archival Series—Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990 and Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976–1986. All three albums showcase recordings produced during Japan’s soaring bubble economy of the 1980s, an era in which aesthetic visions and consumerism merged. Music echoed the nation’s prosperity and with financial abundance came the luxury to dream.