2008 Soul Nigga Within

This post is about everything.

2008 is shaping up to be the best year for music EVER. We’ve already had leaks of kickass albums from Mexican bizarro-proggers The Mars Volta and Swedish skull-crushers Meshuggah. Add to that the huge amount of releases that are to come, and I’ll mention some of my most anticipated ones: Opeth, Guapo, Katatonia, Yndi Halda, Univers Zero, Anathema, Black Bonzo, Russian Circles, VDGG, Midlake, dredg, maybe Cynic and Enslaved… yes, all the best bands in the world are coming up with new stuff!

This year is also going to rule (at least for me ) in terms of live shows. You should already know I’m finally seeing Maiden this August - but what I’m really pumped for right now is the melloboat. The lineup is amazing: in two nights I’ll be seeing Opeth, Comus, Katatonia, Anekdoten, Trettioariga Kriget and many others. Also present will be Fredrik Thordenal of Meshuggah, as a guest of the Mats/Morgan Allstar Team. Thordenal is a fucking monster, and I’m plotting to steal his hands and brain and implant them into a robot that I’m building, which will enable me to conquer the world!!! …but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he’s already a robot.

I finished Catcher in the Rye a couple of days ago, what a beautiful book. Everyone should read it, all the praise it’s received is justified as far as I’m concerned. My version was the Romanian translation, but I plan to buy the English version asap.

I’ve been indulging another obsession of mine these past few weeks, and that is British comedy. I’ve already told you about Darkplace in a previous post. Looking up other appearances by actors in Darkplace, I discovered The Mighty Boosh, a surreal comedy featuring Howard, a delusional jazz-loving softie and Vince, a lovable fashion-conscious guy with big hair and a way with animals. The first season, where the two are zookeepers in “The Zooniverse”, is the bestest.

Further investigations led me to discovering The IT Crowd, another hilarious sitcom, this time centering on the IT department of a large firm, featuring Roy and Moss, nerd duo, and Jen, the obligatory female presence.

This show isn’t directed towards geeks, in the same way that you don’t have to work a desk job to love The Office - in fact, a real geek is more likely to complain about various inconsistencies and stereotypes, instead of enjoying the infectious humour. If the two-guys-one-gal formula rings a bell, it should come as no surprise to you that the show’s writer is none other than Graham Linehan, co-writer of Black Books, yet another awesome sitcom which everyone should know and love by now.

The link between Darkplace, Mighty Boosh and IT Crowd are actors Richard Ayoade and Matt Berry. I love them both, especially Ayoade, but what’s up with Matthew Holness, the man behind Garth Marenghi, master of the macabre?

In case you hadn’t noticed, and shame on you if you hadn’t, the links to the various shows I’ve mentioned lead to the British Sitcom Guide, a great resource for… British sitcoms! Apparently the site will transform into the British Comedy Guide soon; I hope it’ll feature up-to-date info on all my favourite British comedians, that’d pretty much be the perfect website.

I watched Forbidden Planet a couple of days ago. A groundbreaking classic, I recommend you watch it if you’re curious about seeing young Leslie Nielsen, the very first miniskirt, or Robby the Robot.

Well this should be enough for now …oh and fyi, last.fm just saved music.

 

2007 in prowlermusic. 4

Some final thoughts before closing the 2007 chapter, and special awards for special songs.

In an excess of pretentia I listed all my 2007 albums in order of awesomeness. A big part of that list consists of music I looked up in the last two months of the year, trying to get all the cool albums I missed throughout the year. What you can’t see is all the shitty music I’ve deleted - most of them were metal and post-metal albums. Which leads me to feel I’ve wasted too much time listening to mediocre music, especially post-metal - and the sad part is I’m still curious about such albums I haven’t heard yet (Minsk for example)

I consider post-metal every band following in the footsteps of Neurosis, Isis, Pelican and the like. It’s a genre that shows quite a bit of potential, but for every interesting new band there’s 5 bands that fail. In many ways it follows the fate of post-rock, a genre that’s plateaued in a state where a handful of bands are writing exciting new music, and beneath them is a huge pile of Explosions in the Sky copycats. But still, I find myself enjoying an average post-rock band more than a post-metal one, maybe because the music often seems more honest - especially when the post-metallers are leaning towards an angsty hardcore style.

In this last couple of months I also discovered a bunch of talented singer-songwriter types. Jon Redfern, Anna Jarvinen, Martin Grech, to name just a few. I’m just now listening to the new album from Agitated Radio Pilot, which is shaping up to be a strong contender for a high spot on my pretentious 2007 list. For many of these discoveries I’ve to thank my friends from erksylvania, and especially garou, a Swedish dude with great taste in music. By the way, have you noticed just how much fucking brilliant music comes out of Sweden, constantly? And Norway ain’t bad either. If you haven’t, you should. Just look at my top 5 picks this year: Japan, Sweden, Finland, Sweden, Norway.

Now, some special awards for outstanding songs this year:

Chorus of the Year

The most infectious chorus of the year by far is Ween’s “Your Party”. This song is pure class. If this chorus doesn’t stick in your mind for all eternity, you’re a soulless philistine.

Gay Song of the Year

This one goes to Beirut’s “Cliquot”, a song meant to bring one’s stray lover back into one’s faggoty arms.

Runner-up: Will-o-the-Wisp’s “Fairer than a Fairy”. An instrumental, but really, with such a title there isn’t need for lyrics.

Awesome Epic Song of the Year

Obviously Porcupine Tree’s “Anesthetize”, which single-handedly lifts their new album from “good” to “great”. It’s no use uploading it, and you should have it already anyway… OK, shut up and watch this shitty vid.

Catchy Japanese Song of the Year

What else than “Me-Devil” by everyone’s favourite insane fake-orchestral metal band, Sigh?

Alright, I’m stretching it already so I’ll stop here

It’s been a good year, but 2008 will more than likely kick its ass, with new releases from none other than Opeth, Guapo, The Mars Volta, Enslaved, Katatonia, dredg, and many many others of course.

 

2007 in prowlermusic. 3

Top 10 Albums of 2007

After a long period of deliberation I’ve completed the grueling task of selecting this past year’s favourite albums. So without further ado, here’s my top 10 picks for 2007:

10. Eivind Aarset - Sonic Codex

Well maybe I’m overrating this one a bit. Then again, dark tasty instrumental avant-rock with jazz influences is right up my alley Actually scratch that first sentence, this really is awesome stuff!

“Drobak Saray”

9. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

Very good (gasp!) indie rock, I loved the orchestration and the melodies. The album loses a bit of steam about halfway through, but still it’s a great listen with some outstanding tracks.

“Keep The Car Running”

[EDIT Jan 2nd] A good night’s sleep made me reconsider this one, it’s not quite top 10 material.

8. Efterklang - Under Giant Trees

Danish Efterklang perfect their original style of classically tinged post-rock with this EP. Couple it with selected tracks from the Parades LP and you’ll get a very good output from this band.

“Himmelbergjet”

7. Neurosis - Given to the Rising

The wave of “post-metal” has been growing ever stronger these past 2-3 years - but Neurosis remain masters of the genre they’ve helped create. A mature album offering a unique listening experience and showing all the wannabes how it’s done.

“Given to the Rising”

6. Alcest - Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde

Black metal that’s dreamy instead of grim? Lush vocals instead of kvlt shrieks? Surprisingly, it works: this is an album of ethereal beauty. Purists have accused this of being a worthless gimmick - in that case, I fell for it

“Sur L’autre Rive Je T’attendrai”

5. Shining - Grindstone

I’ve mentioned this one before. The Norwegian King Crimson worshippers have given us one hell of a ride to enjoy. I’m still kicking myself for having missed them when they opened for Enslaved in London.

“In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be A Monster”

4. Trettioåriga Kriget - I Början och Slutet

Perfectly executed hard prog from the Swedish veterans. I love the feel and sound of this album. Can’t wait to see them on the boat! What boat? I’ll tell you later

“Ryattaren”

3. Reverend Bizarre - III: So Long Suckers

The Finnish doom metallers’ final LP, this is music designed to crush every mortal soul in existence. I consider this 2hour+ juggernaut of an album in the same league as Epicus Doomicus Metallicus and Master of Reality - the only reason it’s not #1 is you just can’t listen to the whole thing in one sitting, unless you’re a vile cacodemon from the depths of Hell.

I’m not uploading a song ‘cos you don’t listen to Reverend Bizarre on a fucking blog, you faggot.

2. Black Bonzo - Sound of the Apocalypse

A great leap forward from their debut, the new LP by Black Bonzo is a stunning collection of kickass progressive rock songs. The only reason this isn’t #1 is they’re still quite indebted to Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull and Queen, but the way they incorporate these influences is brilliant, and Sound of the Apocalypse is a really strong album throughout.

“Thorns Upon A Crown”

And now, what we’ve all been waiting for…

 

Some of you are going to die - Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall proviiiiiideee!

The Musical Box

I can’t begin to tell you how much the Musical Box show ruled. Seeing the Selling England by the Pound show performed in the way it was 33 years ago by Genesis is one of the best ever musical experiences possible. Everything looked, sounded and felt so uncannily genuine that one can safely say this was a Genesis show, in every way but one of course

 

Genesis in Rome

I returned home from Rome today, after being one of the (apparently) more than 500.000 people to see Genesis perform at the Circo Massimo on July 14th. I didn’t take any pics during the show, all I’ve got are some before & after shots Here’s the place at about 12 o’clock, when I arrived:

 

First thing I noticed when the concert started and the band launched into ‘Behind the Lines’ was the sound - it was the best I’ve ever heard, crystal clear, certainly better than anything I’ve heard and probably am about to hear in terms of concerts where I live. I was standing about 10m away from the stage, facing Mike Rutherford, and I could hear everything perfectly.

 

Pearls Before Breakfast

Can one of the nation’s greatest musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? In this week’s issue of the Washington Post Magazine Gene Weingarten sets out to discover if violinist Josh Bell — and his Stradivarius — could stop busy commuters in their tracks.

There’s been a very large reaction to this Washington Post article, and you should really take the time to read it all. It’s an awesome and inspiring story. Here’s some of my thoughts on it:

 

2006 in prowlermusic. 1/3

As 2006 draws to a close (I always wanted to say this ), it’s time to look back and make meaningless ‘Best of the Year’ lists.

I’ve ranked all the worthwhile 2006 studio LP’s I’ve heard, and I’ll list the top spots in my next two blog entries, along with a sample song for each of them and some comments. Of course I might have missed something, so you’re always welcome to fill me in

Meanwhile, here’s some special personal ‘awards’ for 2006.

 

Amplifier - Insider (2006)

Well this isn’t exactly the gr1m necr0 comeback I promised, but it’ll do for now Amplifier are a young British space rock trio with a distinctive sound, although there are definite influences - think Porcupine Tree meets Rush, with some flourishes of modern Opeth here and there.

 

Kate Bush

..rocks I started listening to Kate Bush fairly recently, and was quite impressed that such creative, touching and brilliant music could come from a woman :sexistpig:

 

We have to put a barrier between us and the snakes!

Welp, Snakes on a Plane finally came to Romania, and I went and watched it tonight. Needless to say, it was bloody awesome!