Luckily, The Horrors themselves use a lot more than just Primary Colours on the album of that name. Maybe lyrically ‘horrors‘ is too much translated into (only) the loss of love, the dark side of romance. But overall they do create a genuine and wonderful mix of dark vocals, happy vocals, distorted guitars, detuned guitars, fuzzy synths.
Warning! Following references serve only to paint a picture without having heard the band (though I doubt whether that’s possible). The opening tracks remind vocally of Interpol‘s debut. Guitars are fuzzy in the best My Bloody Valentine tradition. Some songs excitingly drag along like only The Swans could. I will not mention Joy Division.
During a check on my favorite artists I ran into a music video of David J, reminding me of the fascinating artist and songwriter the man is.
The song brings up memories of Bound for Hell, which he wrote for the self-titled Love & Rockets album. Although this album divided not only the band’s 2 main songwriters, but also their fan base, I still love it. Exactly because of its playfulness, its fooling around with pop music. Subsequently they defined… pop music. And does‘Roll On’ on the Daniel Ash album ‘Foolish Thing Desire’ bring up memories of ‘Motorcycle’ on L&R? (anyone saying “The Jesus & Mary Chain”?)
I have mostly known David J as the coolest bass player around. I found out only last year that he had composed the music for the V for Vendetta song This Vicious Cabaret, using Alan Moore’s lyrics. Following is not an official video, but pastes imagery of the (great!) movie on top of the (great!) song:
Fairly intrigued I bought me the full (mini) CD. Now, that’s what I call (avant-garde) CABARET! My edition also holds the demo version of the main song, which is truly great (knowing that it’s the result of a 1 night effort).
It all started with Bauhaus. And it’s quite fair to say that also Peter Murphy (I’m a huge fan!) and Daniel Ash are fascinating artists and songwriters, that have helped defining the face of music. If you want to know more on the forming of, the history of Bauhaus and the subsequent paths of its members, there’s this illuminating book Dark Entries (Bauhaus and beyond). It goes back to the days of various bands, of David J playing bass, his brother Kevin (Haskins) on drums (flower pots?) and Daniel on guitars. With Peter they came to be the legendary Bauhaus (1919).
Of course, over the past 25 years the guys have kept creating new, distinct and fantastic work, have reformed a couple of times, even put out a new Bauhaus album. Too much for one lousy blog note…
Franz Ferdinand‘s Tonight: music2dance2. Perfect tunes to seduce those pretty girls –who don’t understand boys– to… dance. And a little kiss?
The boys fool around. Laugh. Dream. Create super sound moves. Don’t be afraid if you hear their voices. Plunge into the unbearable lightness of dancing. It’s taken to an extreme hyperlucid level on the bonus CD Blood: Thunder. Synths. Echoes. Kinda like some ancient Bauhaus B-sides (In Fear Of Dub, Here’s the Dub, Ear Wax).And what a great job on the visual aspects again. Had some heavy night out (dancing), guys? Now get away you blood sucking paparazzi!
I’m throwing my arms around Morrissey
because only his dramatic feel reflects my love
In fact, I had already thrown my arms around Him since his glorious return with You Are The Quarry. Although the early solo albums were highly acclaimed (still are) I never got beyond the radio hit singles. Maybe it was just me not getting over the split of my beloved The Smiths… But then there was Irish Blood, English Heart. Provocative. Great. Self assured. Rocking. I bought me the 2 EP’s and the full album, and years+2 also Ringleaders Of The Tormentors. Against the critics again I loved Him even in his Italian love phase.
The fantastic single I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris has the only true vintage melodramatic Morrissey poetry. Great but I doubted. Still went out for the full Years Of Refusal to (yes! allright!) find the return of the fierceness of Irish Blood, English Heart, only now resonating throughout the whole album. Both lyrics and music are beautifully drenched in black and violent smoke. The final rise of punk, mozzer-style. With a great bass to end the album and rub it in. Salty noise banging in my head. And finally (yes again!) no overwasted, endless feedback guitars droning on and on to… no end. Don’t let the child mislead you. Adult work.
Quite original CD-print. Certainly reminds me of my The Smiths albums. Makes a black circle look round, right?
Bij het inladen van In ‘t Gezicht, de nieve van Axl Peleman, kon onzen aaiTunes de titelkes niet vinden.
En op zoene moment besefte toch weer dat diene gast echt wel een beetje extra aandacht verdient.
Omdat hij zelf zoe’ne schat is, maar (vooral) voor zen pareltjes van luisterliedjes, met een giga-assortiment aan door emzelf gespeelde instrumenten en overgoten met zijn zalig sappig Antwaarps. Met op tijd en stond een goede cover, de geschikte medezangeressen, zoals daar zijn die rosse van Kzoveel en de immer beminnelijke Eva De Roovere, en deelname van nog ander gezellig volk, type Wim Opbrouck.
Hemels zwevend tussen nederpop en kleinkunst, zoals mister teddybeer het al voordeed op zijn vorige, Dagget Wet (“dat je het weet” voor de anderstaligen). En de cover daarop, Pa, krijgt hier een waardig vervolg in Als Je Wint. Dus, gebruikt a hersens, en koopt die plôtjes.
I previously expressed how I was intrigued by finding that a colleague is the singer (and synth fanatic) of Ionic Vision, a Belgian EBM band. Especially as this (music) goes back to my blackened youth.
And I couldn’t let go. Wanted to dig deeper, have a better understanding of Ionic Vision (my alternative mind fighting my conformist life). So ‘hearing’ followed Vision, ionically, so to say. Inspired by an interview. Advised to check out Bitter Isolation (2008), at the crossroad of 16 years of path finding. Though I love the title Rage Against The Acoustic more.
It starts with an insect attack. The overall tempo is up and dynamic. Your body forced into high-frequency mode. Accelerations of the heart. All of this being reinforced by the continuous stream of songs. Then… suddenly, unexpected, a revealing spark of lightness. M. Manson-like ironicism. The glimpse of melodies. Ionic Vision certainly transcends the (recognizable) influences with a new and organic mixture. Pumping hydraulics. Hissing pneumatics. Pounding machinery.
I know that the sound of the bea(s)t is targeted, but in my opinion some lyrics and melodies are worthwhile spitting them out more… ironically, maybe de-humanised. Sometimes the grunting is just… heavy. But probably attractive to many others. I sense room for experiment. More (Ionic?) lightness, of singing, of instruments, of more… Gag.
Go see for yourself at iTunes. Find the omnipresent chair!
How people can surprise you! A colleague told me recently (after he saw my NIN desktop) that he’s the singer of a band, Ionic Vision (also on MySpace). Totally ‘Electronic Body Music‘.
Now, I’ ve had a very, very black youth (welcome in the 80’s), but I was never really into EBM. Not attracted by Front242 at the time, mostly because of the militaristic feel (later on learned that it’s more a guerilla intention, and that does attract me). Loved Nitzer Ebb for a while, saw them live in 1988 at Pukkelpop. But that’s about it.
You will surely recognize those 2 bands in the Ionic sound. But, hey, their machines sound great, the sound is heavy, the atmosphere is militant. Enough to make you give them control over your body?
1/ After long and hard consideration, the jury put Coldplay with Prospekt’s March on top of 2008’s releases. It is considered an unprecedented example of post-completion to an already genuinely great work, Viva La Vida (or Death and all His Friends).
The jury particularly appreciates the massive consistency. Personally I also love the guys for using the ghost title of the pre-release Viva.
Snow Patrol‘s new album, A Hundred Million Suns, shows all of the strengths of these great musicmen. (a) It has the overall, familiar SP sense of intimacy, (b) with still some great, vintage radio hit songs and (c) above all a silent, but clear artistic evolution towards a broader spectrum in the closing 15 minutes, three-part song The Lightning Strike.
I had to play it loud however to really feel the album, to get all the enlightening background sounds and effects, the intimate detail voices and the acoustic guitars gently embracing the electrical riffs.
Maybe, just maybe, it misses a song like Run, that still gets me in tears. Although e.g. Lifeboats certainly also gets to me. And of course, a duet of the upmost emotional tension with a great female singer like Martha Wainwright cannot be repeated.
The connection with Bloc Party‘s newest pearl is not only the element of Intimacy but also the producer: Jacknife Lee. And, not to forget, the fact that both records are brilliant (like >100.000.000 suns). So far for the similarities between the 2 works of recording.
Bloc Party has not just explored new electronic horizons. They’ve seemlessly integrated it into their already distinct songs and sound. Looping, sampling, repetitive voices sound as if they’ve always been there. I love it, but I still have a slight preference for the more rock oriented Weekend In The City.
Mijn lof voor Eva De Rooverein De Nieuwe Eva omvatte de ‘bijzondere instrumentaties, klanken en arrangementen‘, de ‘presence en de looks‘, de ‘fantastige‘ muziek.
Nu hebben we ze ook levend (met band) kunnen bewonderen in De Maagd. En ik kan al dat goeds alleen maar dubbel-en-dik beamen. De multi-begaafde band was geweldig, de arrangementen helemaal op maat van een levend optreden, de gevraagde mee-zang werd met plezier geleverd en de reacties van het publiek waren navenant enthousiast. En niet te vergeten, buiten de presence en de stem mag mevrouw’s muzikale begaafdheid voor instrumenten niet over het hoofd gezien worden.
De CD’s moesten we niet meer aanschaffen. Maar het was wel leuk Eva na het optreden even in levende lijve te kunnen complimenteren. En dolgelukkig gemaakt te worden met een ‘propere’ tekst op een kaartje in plaats van op een CD-hoesje.
Dus, Eva, dank je voor de fijne avond en je innemende prestatie.
We hebben ook je vraag om steun aan Senegal beantwoord en op iTunes je lied 13 gekocht. Het kaartje bij de CD was er… onopgemerkt.
Allé hop nu, verder op weg in de (welverdiende) verovering van de Lage Landen.
Luckily, The Horrors themselves use a lot more than just Primary Colours on the album of that name. Maybe lyrically ‘horrors‘ is too much translated into (only) the loss of love, the dark side of romance. But overall they do create a genuine and wonderful mix of dark vocals, happy vocals, distorted guitars, detuned guitars, fuzzy synths.
