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Crawling King Snake. The Black Keys
Ahead of the new
album, filled with blues covers, The Black Keys released Crawling King
Snake, a song I got to know first through The Doors on 'L.A. Woman'.
With that version, this one has nothing to do. It sounds like it is made
by extremely competent musician friends spending a great afternoon
together. The level of musicianship is deliciously high, the groove kept
up effortlessly, allowing the song to flow like it perhaps has never
flowed before. The high tension of The Doors is all gone and traded in
for this relaxed groove going on for minutes on end. The guitars trading
licks. The slide guitar plays a leading role, giving Crawling King
Snake a dirty edge after all. What a way to spend time with friends
making music, except that this is serious business, as it is on an album
by The Black Keys released last week, 'Delta Kream'. And an album by The Black Keys, that's big business these days. No denying there.
Another
single by Wolf Alice. Where I wrote recently that the band had become
more mature in sound, in Smile Wolf Alice becomes totally unhinged in a
great chorus that is up there with the best of alternative, modern rock.
The difference between the angry and hard verses, bare rhythm driven
and the dreamy chorus looking for something to shine, having already
found it. The chorus that goes all out in a great pop way with long-held
notes on the synths, accented by strong chord strokes, while the drums
pound away in the background. Smile is the kind of single that makes me
feel totally alive. Seldom was a dream more pleasant than Smile.
All
good things come to an end, so also the string of 7 four weekly singles
of the The Puzzle Is Cast releases ends. The work continues over the
summer so an album can be released in the fall containing all the
singles and newer work. Severed Hand - Iron Hook, I suppose a nod to
'Peter Pan's' Captain Hook, is played by Antonis
Livieratos on piano
and Sotiris Debonos, classical guitar, "Din Is Noise" soft synth &
mix. The neo classical piano playing is not unlike the truckload of solo
piano records, but somewhat more solid as well as spooky. This is no
pleasant, romantic tinkering on the keys. The synth sounds, interspersed over and
through the piano playing, add to the mood and even leads to some
estrangement. Nothing seems clear anymore, all is uncertain. Severed
Hand - Iron Hook takes intense listening to discover all that is going
on. Near the end the music gets a more experimental treatment, where the
piano goes off into its own direction, leaving us behind, slightly
bewildered. Fascinating listening and definitely Kairos material, the
radio show on Concertzender.
KnightressM1
released a live video, recorded in a studio. Emily Palen does something
I haven't seen many times before. Playing the violin while singing, like most guitarist do.
Most violinists I know stop playing when they sing. The violin's sound
is as distorted as the singing is almost too painful to listen to. Both are
being pushed to the limit of what they are meant to do it seems.
Distortion brings the violin to another level. Basically it has taken over the role of an electric guitar. The singing at times turns to
something close to screaming. It's a good thing the drums and bass in
the background keep their cool totally. They support the singing fully,
without overstepping for a single second, keeping the song's balance.
The whole is as intriguing as it is painful to listen to at times.
Bleeding eardrums match the bleeding vocal chords. "Infinite blue,
waving goodbye to you", followed by a shout Courtney Love would have
been proud of. Impressive Infinite Blue is.
Time
for some more metal on WoNoBlog. Pentral returns with its mix of
classic rock and metal riffing. The band knows its classics for sure and
is able to give a modern twist to music originating in the 1970s. The
way the riffs fly around my ears, shows how at ease the band is with
playing them and how good at creating new riffs it is, next to the hundreds
upon hundreds already in existence. The Brazilian band rings a bell with
me, where many of the original bands did not. Perhaps because several
different styles come together in one song? Who knows, fact is that I do
not mind listening to Aiming For The Sun at all. One reason is that the
singing is real and not some grunt. That makes it much more fun for me.
Riff away!
After a
string of new albums in past few years, Fink decided to reimagine several
of his songs to be released as 'IIUII' later in the year. Warm Shadow
new, is as good as Fink normally is. The interplay between the guitar
and the keyboards gives the song a warm vibe. The little percussive
noises work slightly estranging, something the warm keyboard sound
cannot compensate fully. When replaced by handclapping the song truly
changes in feel. The basis of the song is the acoustic guitar that keeps
the song going in a fast and strong pace. Small variations change the
chords, not the vibe. That remains as mysterious as this song is.
Atmospherics, treatments of the sounds making up the song, all take
place in order to keep us on our toes and alert to expect the
unexpected. Warm Shadow can be taken for a rigid song but only in
structure. Within it all is allowed, the, confined, flexibility used to great
success.
A
double A-side single of two artists collaborating. She's A Beam is a
light psychedelic track of the kind that seems to be floating away while
I listen to it. As if the music somehow isn't solid. In the first two
minutes all is wobbly, insecure almost. And then it all changes, as if
the second song started already. Fierce drumming, a tight song on all
sides. The high voice disappeared totally. She's A Beam changes into an
instrumental rock song. What a change! Almost as if from a nightmare so
sudden and abrupt. The kind that wakes one up in the middle of the
night. Heartbeat racing. It all ends a bit more experimental, when the
song structure slowly falls apart.
Milk Bird Flyer is only
half as long and starts out as an alternative pop song from the 60s.
Herman's Hermits on LSD, something like that. The singing is on helium to
boot. The mix of the electric and acoustic guitar works well in the
song. The chorus is totally psychedelic, as in not just a little. It is
pretty far out there, to remain in Summer of Love speak. The guitar solo
is spacy but tight as well. And then all of a sudden the song erupts
and is over. Certainly nice but the singing does take some getting used
to.
A little extra
psychedelic music never hurt any one. Night Beats provides it. The
melody is dangerously close to something I already know. To be exact,
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's 'Spread Your Love'. Revolution is from the
band's upcoming album 'Outlaw R&B' (June 4). Like the song above
Night Beats combines an acoustic guitar with a distorted electric
guitar, creating the light and the shade in Revolution. The psychedelic
garage rock sound of the band from Texas mixes the two exactly right.
The acoustic guitar provides the song with a clear mind. The electric
guitar that at times goes off into the stratosphere in some nice solo or
two, turns it inside out. The result is that the as such not
spectacular melody two chord melody is dragged around, shaken up and hammered into
interesting shapes along the way that shine in the right moments.
Atlanta
based Faye Webster is introduced to me by way of this alternative rock
single with a modest pop edge. Cheers is a hybrid of pop, indie and
rock. Together she created a song that is less tough than I expected from
hearing the tough, dry and elementary beginning. Drums, a muted bass and
some electronic percussion make it a tough song. When the chorus laden
guitar enters, the toughness gives room to a lightness that changes
Cheers. Something it does not recover from in the second verse. Better,
the keyboard later on adds to the lighter mood. Faye Webster played a
serious game with(in) this single to make sure it has different moments that
can grab the attention of the listeners. It certainly grabbed me.
Despite having written about a few of her singles, I could not find the words to write a review of her album, 'First Steps Of Letting Go'. Although I have regularly played it, words failed, most likely because Luka's music is just outside of my comfort zone. So is Without You in Barbagello's remix (yes, the Tame Impala drummer). Only, words do not fail me here. The song is so beautifully crafted, so well built up. From the almost bare intro over which Luka starts singing. A myriad of names enter my mind that I ignore, because of the way the song develops, the beat and keyboards kick in, kicking out all other thoughts. Slowly Barbagallo works towards a climax but takes his time, in fact even holds back before the rhythm and band truly are released. Barbagallo being a drummer most likely explains the fierce drumming in the second half of the song. It is not often that I listen to remixes, but for the second time this year, after Reb Fountains's 'Hawks & Doves (Tali Remix)', I'm totally surprised in the most positive of ways.
Wout de Natris
Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:
https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g
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