The EP can be listened to and downloaded at http://digiflesh.net/album/nothing-real

First on the EP is the title track, Nothing Real, which introduces us to very hypnotic sequencer work and has the neema-nomma type of synthesisers I love. Almost impossible not to headnod.

Second up is Ripped Away. Musically like a continuation of Nothing Real. Very similar feel, very similar vocals and very similar synthesiser work. However, as part of the same EP this works. If the vocals were in German you’d have classic DAF.

Finishing off the EP is Locked Inside, continuing the largely monotone vocals. This isn’t a criticism, the single note vocals work well over the heavy sequencing and punchy drumming. I also really liked the coda on this.

Overall this is a good EP, the similarity of the tracks lending it coherence making it like a single 10-minute track with gaps, rather than being irritating. Due to there not being much variation in the contents of each track I don’t think it would work as an album so I think the length has been gauged just right.

I have a personal bias against white-noise snares and percussion, unless they have a lot going on within them. Because there’s a lot of that style of percussion in this EP my one minor quibble was with the snares and hi hats. I listened to both the widget on the website and the download. Of course its better on the downloaded version but I still found it slightly irritating. There’s a hint that there’s a decent ‘crack’ slapping behind the white noise but it doesn’t come across too clearly. As said, its a taste thing and a bias so possibly one you want to let slide.

This is very worth 10 minutes of your time and is going straight onto my MP3 player.

http://omnimusic.bandcamp.com/album/snow

]]> http://roostercogburn.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/finally-snow/feed/ 0 Roo Stercogburn Snow http://roostercogburn.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/pegasiamusic008-the-lost-journals-volume-i/ http://roostercogburn.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/pegasiamusic008-the-lost-journals-volume-i/#comments Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:55:12 +0000 Roo Stercogburn http://roostercogburn.wordpress.com/?p=181 ]]> Over at http://pegasiamusic.com/ they’ve been very busy chaps and this week released The Lost Journals Volume I, a collection of steampunk and steampunk influenced music from different artists.

Overall I enjoyed the album. Its very uneven, which is inevitable given the variety of contributers but there are some really great tracks here and there, well worth giving ear time to.

I’ve written a short review of each track in turn below. Some of the comments are perhaps not flattering here and there but one thing that everything on this album has in common is that its always interesting and for that alone I have respect for everyone who contributed to this work. Standout tracks for me were Steam Powered and Carousel.

The album can be downloaded at http://www.archive.org/details/Pegasiamusic008TheLostJournalsVolumeI

Steam Powered. Great bassline and a great feel to the track. Chuckled along at the slightly demented vocal deliveries and some very funny lyrics.

Something Wicked. Not really wicked. Perhaps slightly naughty. Dumbo’s pink elephants crossed with guitars. I found on a second listen it really started to grow on me fast.

Act I The Crash Sequence. Vey disjointed and slightly crappy sounds through the intro. Feels like they’re trying too hard to be different. This track improves hugely when it hits waltz time about 2 minutes in. However, overall its really just a gathering of clichés of how to do mania in music. Disjointed intro. Check. Violin. Check. Whispering voices. Check. And so on.
The guitar was pretty good throughout this and I liked the waltz section.

Written In Red. Nice buildup except it doesn’t buildup, I kept hoping there would be some kind of power surge during it but it never actually arrives. Still, good tune, good voice and a nice feel to the whole thing.

Carousel. More cool looney tunes. This is very catchy. Only part I wasn’t crazy on was the merry-go-round riff that plays a couple of times during the track and is the last thing that plays in the track. Its a bit heavy handed and not needed – the rest of the track has a great spinning, slightly out-of-control feel without needing to lay it on thick with this. That minor quibble aside, I really liked this track a lot.

The Illusion of Free Will. Firmly in chitty chitty bang bang territory here. Not enough sense of threat to go along with the title. That said, the break is good. I’d just have preferred some subtle hints throughout the track that something is not quite right. Three-four time doesn’t automatically confer that by itself.

Clockwork Heart. Off beat ticktocks are great. Bit too angsty for me. Probably want to watch out for the Carry On crowd with lines like “Winding my organs tight”. Oooh matron. The simple arpeggio throughout is effective and the string sections are good. Very clean sound overall, perhaps some more mess would have been good. Good track.

The Beast of the Air. Perhaps one for the Knights of Badassdom, not really to my taste. I just felt a sudden need to machinegun down treehuggers during this. Some of the discords on the guitar(s) are great but not enough to make this track something I would like.

AKAI-TSUKI. Mostly harmless. Well played rock, but too middle-of-the-road for me. The secret to good tunes is not necessarily lots of chord progressions. I’ve seen this in a lot of local bands that get impressed with themselves because they can do long winding chord progressions and lose sight of the tune itself and supporting structure. Argh that piano bit that plays on its own. I get the feeling this is a band of people that are good at their instruments and feel a need to show it, rather than focusing ruthlessly on the combined melody. I’d be interested to hear more if they threw out the nice and got a little bit nasty. Nasty does not mean necessarily more distorted guitar.

The Surgeon’s Widow. Great start. I was really enjoying this right up to “No one loves me”. I liked the sound palette, lyrics a touch melodramatic though I liked the story – it actually goes somewhere. Some of the rap goes very out of time towards the end but there’s a very cool feel to this track throughout.

Delicious Cabaret. This is good fun. Slightly out of whack but not so much that it would seem forced. I could imagine some dodgy Fagin type character singing this. Very enjoyable. I had the tune stuck in my head for a while, which is a good sign.

Airship Pirate. I liked the drumming and the guitar.

Time Machine. Good track, good strings. Very slightly trippy feel to it. The ending is clipped, which was a bit strange.

Ironically, the hardest tracks to mix are the ones with the least on them, since they usually have lots of dynamics within them, causing the numbers on the volume levels to pop red at very inconvenient times. The various pianos have also proved troublesome as mostly I’m aiming at fairly soft tones, though a couple of tracks have deliberately very bright piano which has led to some grumbling at muddy mix complications – now happily sorted.

Fingers crossed I don’t find anything that damages my calm in the next few days in the mixes. Although it causes me to take quite a long time, I tend to favour stepping back from something for a period of time before refining it as it helps with objectivity.

I reckoned I’d have this put to bed about 2 weeks ago. Doh! Ah well, no point in stumbling in a rush just before finishing.

The track that clinched the deal was this:

Congratulations PSvilans, wishing you much success with the label

I’ll continue to hone the grunge details on future tracks but this is definately my preferred style of guitar sound. It was a major effort of will to stay away from mixing it with synthesiser sounds but I wanted it dirty. Oh yes.

Its slightly eccentric chillout, designed as if it was a theme tune for some non-existant shabby TV Detective perhaps nicknamed The Beagle.

From the blurb: “Spread over 2 days on Friday September 2nd and Saturday September 3rd, LIAF will be hosting a free industry event held at the Barbican aimed at professional animators, those who work with animation, individuals who want to get a start and the indelibly curious. Split into 4 sessions over the 2 days and featuring a dizzy array of guest speakers from the industry.

It all takes place on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd September at the Barbican, Silk St, London EC2Y 8DS. Entry is strictly by ticket only. Numbers are limited and issued on a first-come first served basis.”

More details at http://www.liaf.org.uk/2011/08/liafs-first-industry-event/

If you’re in London over that weekend, this is potentially a very interesting visit.