Norman fucking Rockwell! Lana Del Ray

The F word in an album title?! That usually means end of career in the U.S. of A. The first word on the album is "Goddamn"?! What is Lana Del Rey thinking? Luckily on the cover it just says "NFR!" and "LDR". So most people are unlikely to ever find out. At times it is quite relaxing to live in The Netherlands, who cares about the F word? Most people don't and the rest is a member of the association against swearwords. "Don't parrot" used to be their advertisement slogan in the public space.

Enough about F words and other distractions. Before me lies the new album by Lana Del Rey, an artist that has beguiled me over the past years. Especially her second album 'Ultraviolence' and third album 'Honeymoon' agreed with me. The last one I did not care for at all. 'Lust For Life' seemed an attempt to catch up with the Katy Perry's and whatever latest girl craze. Another mention worthwhile making here, is how many artists Lana del Rey has influenced in this decade. Truckloads full it seems sometimes.

On Norman fucking Rockwell! I hear a return to form and more. Lana Del Rey not only returns to what she is good at, slow, moody songs with a hint of relaxation mixed with depression. On NFR! she takes this mood to another level. Reclining in her lounge chair she observers the world around her and lets nothing disturb her new found tranquillity. So in a sense nothing happens in several of her new songs. It is all about the mood she creates for the listener. Anyone who allows to go with that flow is bound to become mesmerised by her voice, the stories she sings and the bare music accompanying her.

For most of the album Del Rey worked with Jack Antonoff, co-writing and producing. In the lyrics it is a coming and going of references to other songs and artists. 'Cinnamon Girl' even made it to a song title. Together they have created a totally laidback, yet so intriguing album. The 9.30 minutes plus 'Venice Bitch' takes the listener through several moods, mainly created by a change of instrument and/or sound. In all ways this is a Californian album. Nothing NYC hectic is left in Lana Del Rey's music. Hiding behind shades from the sunshine, is a description she should be able to live with.

'Doin' Time' is a song with in total of nine composers and the only one excluded Del Rey herself. Two Gershwins, Rick Rubin, three Beastie Boys and three Sublime members. "Summertime'' indeed. The cover combines different songs in the 100% Lana Del Rey style but with a little more urgency. The mood of leisure returns with 'Love Song'. Just a piano playing sparse notes and synths creating little carpets of sound for Lana to rest her voice on.

Fans are treated to 14 new songs that deliver what is expected and more. To think that another album is already announced for next year. A hard working woman Lana Del Rey is for someone who creates the impression to always be sunbathing or sunhiding with cocktails at hand. Remarkable.

Wo.


Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

The Path Of Least Resistance. Freeloader

The older reader will be reminded immediately of the K-Tel and Arcade Best Of and compilation albums from the 70s looking at the, hideous, artwork on the left here. Don't be fooled though. On offer is a great, dirty rock and roll album of a band around Nat Freedberg, who already featured on this blog with his first solo album in the winter of this year. Freedberg is a busy person as he also releases an album with the band Freeloader.

The reason for this high turnout is simple. Songs just pour out of him. The ones that did not really fit his solo album 'Better Late Than Never' were put aside, adding two covers and the aptly called and late penned last song 'Ten Songs Make An Album' to make up The Path Of Least Resistance. A band was assembled and it was only a matter of time for another bunch of recorded Nat Freedberg songs was a fact.

In the bio it says that the songs put aside are more rock oriented and I can only shout: YES, THEY ARE, as loud as I can, in order to be heard. The Path Of Least Resistance is far more direct than Freedberg's recent, oh so nice, solo album. You can hear it in the lead guitar playing by Charles Hansen, the fiery responses of Freedberg's rhythm and the ever pounding on of the bass (Jim Haggerty) and drums (Jim Janota). The four Boston scene veterans do not hold back for a second and show their love for Aerosmith induced rock and roll with a garage rock edge making the songs just this little more dangerous, thus nicer. Freedberg knows how to write a garage rock song and the band how to make it come alive.

There's something about the voice of Nat Freedberg. If there is a male equivalent to the witch's voice in the Grimms' Hansel and Gretel fairytale it is Freedberg's. I can imagine hearing him say "Nibble, nibble, like a mouse, who is nibbling at my house"? and scare the two children half to death. There's this gnaw to his singing, but it fits his rock perfectly. Even in 'Rag Doll', the Four Seasons song, he makes me forget the voice of Frankie Valli instantly. Who cares for that high and neat but slightly wining voice, when you have Nat Freedberg and a bunch of guitars to boot?

Freeloader offer ten excellent songs that will rock you all night long. From begin to end The Path Of Least Resistance offers quality. (Okay, if I have to add something less positive, I could have done without the tongue-in-cheek Scottish accent in 'The highland Fling'. Twist my arm, I dare you.) And to think that that final song was added the day before the recording session and is one of the better songs on the album. It is far beyond me why so little people in my home country have heard of Nat Freedberg and now most likely of Freeloader. This is an album truly deserving to be heard by all (garage) rock fans.

Wo.

https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-path-of-least-resistance


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

De Lorians. De Lorians

De Lorians smeedt op fascinerende wijze invloeden uit de jazzrock, progrock en psychedelica aan elkaar op een album dat maar blijft verbazen.

Japanse bands houden over het algemeen wel van wat experiment in hun muziek en dat is niet anders op het debuut van het uit Tokyo afkomstige De Lorians. De jonge Japanners gaan aan de haal met invloeden uit de Canterbury scene en Frank Zappa en smeden op weergaloze wijze invloeden uit de jazzrock, progrock en psychedelica aan elkaar. De muziek van de Japanse band is volledig instrumentaal en springt op het eerste gehoor van de hak op de tak. Langzaam maar zeker vallen er echter steeds meer puzzelstukjes in elkaar. Het debuut van De Lorians slurpt energie, maar geeft misschien nog wel meer energie. Buitengewoon fascinerend album. 

De Lorians is een band uit Tokyo en het is een band die een krankzinnig maar ook waanzinnig debuut heeft afgeleverd. Het titelloze debuut van de Japanse band is ruim een half uur lang totaal ongrijpbaar, maar ook zo interessant dat je al snel geen noot wilt missen.

Het avontuurlijke geluid van de band bestaat uit gelijke delen jazzrock, progrock en psychedelica en wordt op smaak gebracht met experimentele rock en een subtiel Japans tintje.
 
De Japanners hebben een volledig instrumentaal debuut afgeleverd, dat je acht tracks lang op het puntje van je stoel houdt. De jonge Japanse honden hebben goed geluisterd naar bands uit de Britse Canterbury scene van de late jaren 60 en vroege jaren 70 als Soft Machine en Caravan, maar zijn ook hoorbaar geinspireerd door het omvangrijke oeuvre van Frank Zappa.
 
Het geluid van De Lorians wordt gedomineerd door prachtig solerende gitaren, een avontuurlijke ritmesectie en een hoofdrol voor de saxofoon, maar de Japanse band experimenteert er ook driftig op los met flink wat keyboards, een didgeridoo en de theremin. Zeker in de uptempo passages schuift de band flink op richting de jazzrock uit de jaren 70, maar in een paar noten kom je ook zomaar uit bij de progrock of psychedelica uit dezelfde periode.
 
Ik ben normaal gesproken niet zo gek op volledig instrumentale muziek, maar op het debuut van De Lorians gebeurt zoveel dat het maar goed is dat er geen zang opduikt in het al zo volle geluid van de band.
 
De muziek van de Japanse band is hier en daar totaal ongrijpbaar, maar het is ook muziek die de fantasie stevig prikkelt en die goed is voor mooie beelden op het netvlies en zomaar de soundtrack bij een experimentele 70s film had kunnen zijn. Het is bovendien muziek die nog heel lang nieuwe dingen laat horen, waardoor het album steeds weer verrast.
 
In de Britse Canterbury scene uit de late jaren 60 en vroege jaren 70 werd al driftig geëxperimenteerd met een mix van jazzrock, progrock en psychedelica en De Lorians borduurt hier vrolijk op voort. De band omschrijft zichzelf als “a bunch of long-haired Japanese twenty-somethings playing Zappa-loving Canterbury-inspired blissed-out spiritual jazz rippers” en slaat hiermee de spijker op de kop.
 
Het is knap hoe de band eclectische passages afwisselt met meer ingetogen passages, die vervolgens weer kunnen exploderen in een kakafonie van geluid. Als alle energie na een half uur pieken wegvloeit ben je blij dat het even stil is, maar vervolgens verlang je toch weer snel naar de fascinerende klanken van de Japanse band.
 
Muziekliefhebbers met een allergie voor jazzrock of progrock kunnen de Japanse energiebom waarschijnlijk niet verdragen, maar voor de rest van ons is het debuut van De Lorians op een of andere manier toch toegankelijker dan het bovenstaande mogelijk suggereert. Bijzonder album, dat is zeker.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt De Lorians hier beluisteren en kopen:

https://deloriansbbib.bandcamp.com/


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Artificial Horizon. TaxiWars

Comfort zone, the words have recently been used on the blog (see Billie Eilish). Artificial Horizon smells like artificial intelligence and is a subject that ought to get everyone out of his' and her's comfort zone, but surveillance and big data is an entirely different topic; not for this blog. No, I'm writing about TaxiWars, the collaboration between dEUS' Tom Barman and saxophone player Simon Verheyen.

The (late-night) jazzy music is not my immediate choice of music on an average day and non-average coming to that. However, Artificial Horizon opens with 'Drop Shot'. The piano reminds me of my favourite Clinic songs, the free-flowing melody brings the best of Blur to mind and the saxophone 'Waiting On A Friend', one the Stones' best ballads, so I don't think I need to explain further what makes 'Drop Shot' such a nice and intriguing song. One song into Artificial Horizon the album has brought me in a favourably inclined mood.

From there on TaxiWars plays with rhythms, bringing hip hop beats in and girl choirs into the mix. The clear, dry snaredrum sound propels 'Sharp Practice' forward. Tom Barman is able to do whatever he feels like, including musical stuff that has no place in his main vehicle, dEUS. This freedom and expectations that do not need to be met, leads him to even sing in a different way. The three men he collaborates with here, next to Verheyen, Nicolas Thijs on bass and Antoine Pierre on drums, all moved to New York City over the past decades to play jazz music in the U.S. That makes TaxiWars a NYC band. Jazz is not the only influence that comes across. The rhythms are often of a tightness that brings to mind Bowie's 'Blackstar', yes, also jazz, and hip hop/breakdance beats.

Promo photo: Anton Coene

Just when I think to have heard the album, TaxiWars takes a sharp turn and presents a soft piano/saxophone driven ballad. 'Irritated Love' is a song that all but irritates. The song reminds me most of a Dylan ballad from his 'Mercy' album. Somehow too simple and yet it has that little, indefinable something that makes me want to listen.

It is the drumming that my attention goes to in 'Infinity Cove'. Antoine Pierre drives this song with his rhythms. Over it the ghost of Frank Zappa hovers ever so fleetingly. In the little twists in the melody and the way of singing. 'Different Or Not' holds a hint of Indian Askin, but would be one of that band's better songs easily.

'Safety In Numbers' offers alternative pop. Very alternative, true, but the vocal melody gives it away nonetheless. It is all these twists that make Artificial Horizon such an intriguing album. Even after listening to the album several times, it still is able to surprise me. Despite that the album does not sound "new" to me, for that there are too many easy to discern influences, the interaction between the musicians is fresh, clear and obvious. Together with the quality of the songs Artificial Horizon draws me out my comfort zone easily. An album that works in many different circumstances with ease.

Wo.

You can listen to and buy Artificial Horizon here:

https://taxiwars.bandcamp.com/album/artificial-horizon


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Osmosis. I Am Oak

My first comment has to be on the artwork. What a beautiful picture. Serene, tranquil, but also as if I'm looking at something that is not possible. Like a Roger Dean painting on a Yes album of old, but then for real ... or not? A floating piece of rock. The light and the shade are perfectly caught here. It does make a promise for the Osmosis though. Is it fulfilled?

Osmosis does come with a warning from me. I Am Oak has the tendency to disappear within itself. The music and singing can become so soft and modest that it vanishes from my consciousness when I play the band's albums too soft. It just seems to truly disappear.

To prevent that from happening Osmosis is played fairly loud at this moment, an advice I wholeheartedly present to you. Whole layers appear, in fact, Osmosis may be the loudest I Am Oak album to date. The singles preceding the album already hinted to this fact. Something I was quite happy with. In my opinion I Am Oak is a band deserving to be heard.

I Am Oak is a band I slowly grew into. The first impression was simply 'nothing'. Thijs Kuijken's voice is soft, lingering, hovering somewhere outside of my earshot it seemed, the music close to not existing. And yet the band caught me somewhere along the way. The subtleness of the music crept up on me and under my skin.

Over the past months several singles were released by I Am Oak that hinted at a change of course. Where accents in the music were either non-existent or barely noticeable in these songs they are firm and up front. This mood was brought to Osmosis. Wikipedia tells me that Osmosis "is the spontaneous net movement of solvent molecules through a selectively permeable membrane into a region of higher solute concentration, in the direction that tends to equalize the solute concentrations on the two sides". I'm afraid this doesn't help me understand what Osmosis is about. The "higher ... concentration" part of the definition resonates in the music though. By offering certain focus points in the music several songs on Osmosis become more concentrated and much less fleeting than I Am Oak's standard songs.

Let's look at a few examples. The album opens with piano chords over which Thijs Kuijken starts singing. Mixed up front in the mix, he is in the lead. That it is until a slightly distorted guitar, as Mike Oldfield introduces such a sound on his 'Tubular Bells' album, kicks the song in the butt. Slowly 'The Shore' fleshes out with bass, drums, organ and background vocals. The song as a whole is solid, the guitar tops it fully off. And yet, when I play it too soft, also 'The Shore' disappears fully from my attention. It is when I play it louder that the production comes to a full bloom. The sound clear, the instruments all distinct parts of the whole. Oh, yes, Osmosis has grabbed me by the lapels and holds on, but only because I persevered after the first, soft listening session.

The familiar sound of 'Between Worlds' kick in next and I'm so happy. This was the song I hoped before the summer would be I Am Oak's standard for the new album. This is beauty incarnated. The slow piano notes in the interlude touch me deeply. They are nothing more than a few notes and every single one is just right. In combination with the lead guitar it becomes musical heaven. And that standard? Hope fulfilled.

I notice that on Osmosis I Am Oak mixes a little jazz into its mix, not unlike West Coast acts from the late 70s and early 80s did. The Doobie Brothers, Christopher Cross, et al. 'Hidden Coast' holds a few elements that I heard at the time. Again a few elements are allowed to stand out. The guitar, a synth, the drums are soft, yet pronounced.

Moving on through the album it slowly dawns on me that the Osmosis part in the music of I Am Oak agrees with me. The concentration of the accents in the music lays the beauty in that music, that for sure has always been there, bare in a new and exiting way. What was hidden is revealed, what was (near) absent introduced, what was veiled, unveiled. In a way it seems to me that I Am Oak and more specifically Thijs Kuijken, presents a new level of self-assuredness, a new way of expressing itself/himself. It certainly agrees with me. It may be too early to really tell, but my guess is Osmosis is I Am Oak's best album to date.

Wo.

You can listen to and buy Osmosis here:

https://snowstar.bandcamp.com/album/osmosis


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g