Stylusboy - Whole Picture EP

Having never heard of Stylusboy, I was unsure what to expect so a quick read of the press release was in order. Stylusboy is one man, Steve Jones who has released two EP's over the last couple of years with this release of ‘Whole Picture’ taking him to an EP a year so far. Stylusboy is described as a "blend of lo-fi alternative folk" and you certainly get that feel from the EP, not only in the music but in its packaging as well. When you look at this EP, it is a reflection of the music you will find within, simple with a natural feel to it. A feeling that makes you touch the cover, unwrap the twine and smile.

By reflection of the music I usually listen to I would not say that I am a lover of folk (OK, I like Mumford and Sons but don’t tell anyone), however the songs on this EP have a sense of genuineness and optimism for what has happened and what could happen in the future which I felt a connection with. Simple in their nature with some interesting choices of instruments (it’s not often you hear a xylophone used in a song these days), the EP makes you wistful but happily wistful.

Opener ‘Whole Picture’ is a cheery upbeat song as well as being a clear indication of what the rest of the EP will be like, good guitar riffs, male and female vocals that blend together perfectly and a general warm feeling inside. ‘Beyond The Flag’ keeps some of the upbeatness to it before the EP moves on to a more mellow vibe causing you to reflect on what's being sung to you and life in general.

It picks back up again with ‘Gunfight at the OK Corral’. With a name like that you'd expect to have a bit of omph to it, which it does in the form of a simple acoustic omph but that doesn't mean it loses any of its power. We then finish with ‘Dave's Song’ a lovely tune which makes you want to hug your friends as it leaves you with a message of the future to come.

If you want some food for the soul, then this EP is it. A beautiful blend of guitar & vocals, this will lift your spirit and bring a smile to your face. You can perfectly imagine sitting in a sunny field at a festival tapping along.

By Lauren Carnall.

Nowhere Again - Now I Am Twenty EP

If you’re like me, you recognized that Nowhere Again took their Nom de Band from The Secret Machines song. In using that song title as their band name, these guys set the bar for themselves pretty high; TSM is beloved by many a music fan, and said fans really run the gamut from Indy Hipsters to Neo-Progronauts. Does Nowhere Again, the band, measure up?

The answer, my friends, is a resounding ‘Yes’. Even, maybe, a ‘Hell yes’. The name is an homage, but the music is dynamic in its own right (Like dearly departed Oceansize with Jane’s).

My first impression of the EP, after a complete run-through, is that these guys have drawn musically from many genres; I don’t know if it’s just me being old, but I definitely like to think I hear some Fugazi-like guitar shredding on ‘Now I am Twenty’. There are definite Prog Rock aspects as well, but some grunge and Shoegaze is masterfully incorporated.

Musically, I hear a lot of Radiohead influence, but with a twist: Robert Smith (The Cure) on vocals. Nowhere Again make it work and the vocals are solid. If vocals aren’t your thing, there is plenty going on with the guitars, rhythm section and effects to keep even the most critical listener engaged. These songs are technical, but not sterile.

Second track ‘Eighteen’ starts as a dreamy, ethereal track, but kicks in with a much more pronounced bass line and heavier drums. The guitar solo in this tune is what made me think of Fugazi, and it positively shreds. So far, this is a frontrunner for me on this EP, followed closely by the song ‘June’.

The only track that I have not really taken to is ‘Heliopause’. It’s a sort of noise and feedback interlude that sounds like a Tool soundscape and whale songs playing in a wind tunnel. It’s cool, but I get impatient but my bet is that ‘Heliopause’ is very cool to see and hear live.

The other songs (‘Last Human’,‘Hardman Square’and ‘Plans) are all really good, listenable songs with a lot of sonic detail layered in. No one song on ‘Now I am Twenty’ is weak, and each seems to have had a lot of thought put into it.

‘Now I am Twenty’ is definitely worth many listens. If you like expansive, layered songs that build and change and evolve throughout, then you will love this EP. Hopefully, new material (which is supposed to be a bit harder!) is forthcoming. Nowhere Again will always have a place on my playlist as long as they keep making cool, interesting music.

Released May 09 on Superstar Destroyer

Posted by Jake on May 11, 2011

Metamusic - World To Come EP

Metamusic’s ‘World to Come’ has become my ‘GO-TO’ album at work to get into a productive groove.

Sometimes, actually most times, I can’t get started on work, and I turn on my music as a diversion or to get some inspiration. If the music’s not right, it’s hard to get in that productive, ‘get shit done’, effortless FLOW state. Metamusic’s blend of downtempo and alternative progressive music seems to be written for people just like me.

I needed a little help with describing them, so I turned to the band’s bio page (SSD Records site). Metamusic themselves say that if you are a fan of Massive Attack, Radiohead, and Trip Hop you will like them. They never describe themselves or their music though; they want us to figure them out on our own.The band also says that fans of The Verve and Team Sleep (Chino Moreno of Deftones side gig) will dig ‘World to Come’. While I am not very familiar with The Verve, I am a huge fan of Deftones and Team Sleep and I concur, as a fan, that Metamusic is definitely compatible stylistically. I would add that fans of Mew, Doves, Firehose, Minutemen, Mogwai, Errors and Echo and the Bunnymen might like Metamusic.

Each of the songs on ‘World to Come’ has vocals, so while these guys could easily be fully instrumental, the vocals fit and complement the music. The vocals remind me of Radiohead a bit, and also of 1990’s band, dada, mostly because of some multi-part vocal harmonies. The vocals aren’t totally polished, but they’re definitely listenable, and I think that the musicianship of the whole band more than makes up for any imperfections.

One thing I liked immediately was that the drummer on this EP, whoever he is, seems to have some major Jazz Chops. Maybe I am wrong, but it seems like more than once the drummer goes on Gene Krupa-style, minimalist cymbal and edge-of-drumhead sessions that I find really cool. Combine the drums/bass rhythms with clever sampling and D Boone (Minutemen) funk-strum guitar, and I can’t help but smile and enjoy this EP.

My rating: I like Metamusic. I like that they play cool, original music that I can really groove to. I LOVE that they are unique, and that they can incorporate a lot of the best elements of several genres into their songs. I hope they make more of the same soon and for a long time to come.

To close, here’s a quote about Metamusic from Irish instrumentalists And So I Watch You From Afar: ‘Fresh as Fuck, not a hint of imitation.’

Agreed, seconded and wholeheartedly recommended.

Released April 04 on Super Star Destroyer

Posted by Jake on May 19, 2011

Naisian - Mammalian

'Holy mother, that’s some fucking heavy ass shit'. That was pretty much my first thought on listening to ‘Mammalian’ by Sheffield’s Naisian. What they’ve produced here is five awesome tracks of what I can only describe as Progressive Sludge (Post Sludge?) Metal and man it fucking kicks some butt!

The records crashes in to your consciousness with some dirty, filthy riffage at the opening of ‘Fletcher-Munson’ but then this surprisingly drops down in to a lovely mellow section of gentle guitar work. It doesn’t last long and we’re soon back to the nasty stuff but this kind of imaginative change of direction permeates the record and elevates ‘Mammalian’ from being just another sludge album in to being something rather special indeed.

These guys show their influences, everything from Sabbath through to more modern advocates of noise like Isis and Capricorns, but are not enslaved by them, instead adding something of their own to the mix. For instance ‘Take Me To The Mountain Dew Mountain’ opens with what can only be described as a groove, to which they then add a riff straight out of the Iommi handbook but where most bands would just take that and chug on through, not Naisian. Instead they grab the riff, give it a good shake and then lead it off somewhere dark to give it a solid beating. Fucking awesome.

Highlight of the record is the closing, genuinely creepily terrifying, eleven minute masterpiece ‘I Am Eustache Dauger’. This is an absolute monster of a track and showcases everything you need to know about Naisain; twitchy drumming, huge riffage, scary vocals, surprising changes of direction and superb playing.

As good as this record is, and believe me it’s very good indeed, I can’t help feeling the place to truly experience Naisian is in a small, sweaty room while they stand five feet away screaming in your faces, but if you can’t get to one of their live shows then ‘Mammalian’ is ample substitute.

Rumour Cubes - ‘We Have Sound Houses Also’

Rumour Cubes are a London based sextet, violin and viola augment and expand a traditional two guitar, bass and drums line up, that make hugely epic, musically dense, cinematic instrumental rock soundscapes. This brings inevitable comparisons with the likes of Godspeed! You Black Emperor and other exponents of the genre but they manage to carve out a sound that is uniquely their own.

‘We Have Sound Houses Also’ is made up of three tracks that showcase their scope, imagination and talent supremely well. Opener ‘The University Is A Factory’ starts gently, the two string players in tandem weaving a gorgeous tapestry which is the supplemented by ebowed guitar, adding a suspenseful tension that is heightened two minutes in as the drums and bass make an appearance and the tune starts to unfurl until eventually a brutal piece of riffage drops like a giant wave crashing against a beach.

‘Rain On Titan’ has more rhythmic urgency than its predecessor and again the strings are used to great effect, adding beautiful melodic colour to the canvas set down by the drums and bass until once again heavy guitars crescendo and whisk the listener off to that special mental place reserved for the more intense flights of fancy. Well, in my head anyway!

While these two tracks are good it’s the final track, ‘At Sea’, that is truly breathtaking and marks these guys out as ones to watch out for in the coming months. It perhaps lacks the ferocious intensity of the other two tracks but has greater melodic sophistication, building upon achingly lovely interplay between the strings, creating an incredible sense of wistful melancholy that just makes me want to listen to it over and over. Phenomenal.

Live they accompany the music with a spectacular array of specially commissioned visuals that take the whole experience to another level and the EP can be downloaded for free from their Bandcamp or you can buy a physical copy that comes with a poster and in a handmade case made from recycled material. It’s this kind of thinking, about how to offer your fans something different and something special, about how to negotiate the choppy waters of the ‘new’ music business, that gives them more of a chance at success than most.

All in, ‘We Have Sound Houses Also’ is an extremely promising set from a band that appear to have a really clearly defined sense of what they are about and what they are trying to achieve.

Orders Of The British Empire - Act 2

Orders Of The British Empire really need to be seen live to appreciate them in all their ample majesty but failing that then ‘Act 2’, surprisingly the band’s second EP, is a good taster to whet your appetite.

While all four and a half tracks are pretty damn fine it is the opening ‘When Machines Fall Silent’ that is truly breathtaking in its scope and grandeur. Mixing pig and beauty in equal measure it opens with industrial samples over a thumping, almost 65Days ish, beat, a brooding bassline and gorgeous glittering guitars but it’s not long before they let rip with the serious artillery and some crushingly heavy riffage. And then halfway in, like sunshine after the storm, it all swirls down to reveal a heartbreakingly pure piano line before building and building once more to a glorious crescendo. Seven and a half minutes of pure magic.

Sadly, ‘Machines’ is so good, so utterly resplendent that what follows pales slightly in comparison. Not to say that any of it is bad, not by a long shot, but it just never again quite scales the heights of what has gone before.

‘Cor-tastrophe’ is a very different kettle of cetacean, starting as it does with a dramatic reading of Jonah’s story from the bible before slowly, slowly over its opening four minutes before soaring off in to the stratosphere and then coming down the other side with an intricate, mathy entwining of guitars.

‘Freaky Jackson’ is possibly the most ‘post rock by numbers’ track in the collection and separated from closer ‘Beksinski’ by the brooding interlude that is ‘{}’ and another use of a great piece of sampled dialogue. It’s only really on this last track though that OBE come close to repeating the triumph of ‘Machines’, crashing out of ‘{}’ with a heavy as hell riff it then strips down to some lovely wailing guitar before one last valiant swoop of beauty.

All in all, a hugely enjoyable EP that promises plenty more to come. However I still advise you to see them live and it will all make so much more sense.