NIN Lashes Out with "Hesitation Marks"

Trent Reznor released his latest album on September 3rd titled "Hesitation Marks".  In Hesitation Marks, you can hear the culmination of Trent's 24 years of experimentation with music and sounds.  Some tracks stay true to the NIN dark, industrial sounds and background artifacts, while other tracks stray radically from Trent's signature sounds.  However, if you're a devout NIN listener, you'll realize this is what makes NIN, NIN.  It seems like he tries to reinvent himself in many ways with each new album or collaboration.

Hesitation Marks is Trent's re-emmergence into NIN after the hiatus when he collaborated with Atticus Ross for multiple scores such as "The Social Network" and the theme song for "Call of Duty Black Ops II", and also formed the group "How to Destroy Angels" with his new wife Mariqeen Maandig.  Hat's off to you Trent for staying very busy and still tacking time to come back to your roots.

Time to rip it up!:

Killer Tracks:

Track #12 - "In Two" - It begins with haunting sounds reminiscent from "Further Down the Spiral" and thrusts right into hard hitting bass sounds that bring back memories of his "Slip" album and also conjure up the good old days of rhythms from KMFDM.  You don't have to wait long to also catch glimpses of the signature flat note muted guitar rifts.

Track #8 - "Satellite" - Continuing with the "Year Zero" album theme, NIN again exercises his angst with the federal government and its every-increasing encroachment on civil liberties and survelance.  As with Year Zero, Satellite has more of a story to tell with the lyrics than trying to evoke emotions through the sounds.  The beat is simple and catchy.

Track #5 - "All Time Low"  - This is a faster and more-bluesy version of his "Good Soldier" from Year Zero album.  Like "Satellite", All Time Low has a simple beat and focuses more on the lyrics.

Track #2 - "Copy of A" - Don't listen to this track unless you have access to some good subwoofers with low frequency responses.  The intermittent 8th-note bass beat will make your brain cells rattle.  For lyrics, Trent again makes good use of his stutter-clipped repeating vocals, that I personally think he mastered in his "Star Fuckers Inc." song.

Track #4 - "Find My Way" -  This slower song is perfectly placed in the album to give the listener a break from Trent's busier tracks.  Also the gentle lyrics remind me of TweakerRay's remix of NIN's "Perfect Drug" song.

Others:

Track #7 - "Everything" - When I first listened to this track I thought "WTF!", "Good for you Trent!", "Wow!", "Are you out of your fucking mind!", all at the same time.  I really don't know what Trent was thinking when he came up with this song.  It's just too pop-ish for me.  But then again, Trent was never in the business of pleasing everybody.

Overall, I would strongly recommend this album to those who appreciate NIN's versatility in the music industry.

BT Delivers Again with "A Song Across Wires"

Wow, where to start...  BT (Brian Transeau) is one of those electronic artists that produces nothing but brilliance.  When I mention "produces", 95% of his works are originally created by him.  Too many electronic musicians these days remix others' work and call it good.  Not BT.

BT is a truly humbling experience to electronica.  He has inspired so many aspects of it; created "stutter edit" and built an industry around it, won academy awards, holds world records, and at the end of the day, does not flaunt it.  This is a testament to his moral compass that keeps him grounded while still delivering what his fans love.

"A Song Across Wires".  begins where his "These Hopeful Machines" album left off.  Released August 16th 2013, ASAW continues with his crisp and hi-fidelity progressions but also introduces some familiar sounds of the Dubstep style and Zedd's new signature sound affects.  Also aparant in ASAW is BT's subtle "touchy" lyrics.  Although some electronica fans may not find this appealing, try to focus on the tight coupling of synths and affects that truely bring out the meaning of each song that can only be experienced individually.

To truly appreciate ASAW, you need to purchase the extended exclusive album from BeatPort.com  This version also contains the continuous album track that captures the transitions between titles.

Time for brass tax;

Hot Tracks

Track #1 - Skylarking - It's starts slow to get you in a comfortable place and gradually builds into a fast-paced instrumental progressive immersion of serenity.  It includes repetitive patterns but these are selectively spaced throughout the 10min 45sec track so that it doesn't become monotonous.

Track #3 - Tomahawk - This has a little bit for every style for the electronica lover out there.  At times this track seems like it's all over the map and could easily have lost it's way if not for the extended time.  The always-loved synthpad instrument begins you on your journey until the track's featuring artist, Adam K, gently introduces the heavy 8th-note bass coupled with a 4th-noted alternating arpeggio.  These two items, together with the perfect amount of reverb, give the track it's heart.

However, about 1/3 through the song, it takes a dramatic shift from the easy flowing progressive fealing to the break-stepping style and sound affects reminiscent of Zedd.

At the end, the energy is so high you feel as if you're in a rave. BT did a wonderful job on Tomahawk by blending many conventional and bleeding edge styles along with alternating energies.

Track #8 - Surrounded - The flow of this track brings me back to the days of BT's "Emotional Technology" album.  He uses simple but affective styles and synths along with rich lyrics from Aqualung.  The length of the track is also short enough I could easily see this being included in mash-ups on your local songs-that-are-played-too-much radio stations.


Other Great Tracks

Track #5 - Stem the Tides

Track #6 - Tonight


Disappointments

Track #4 - City Life - Sorry I just can't get into songs with oriental lyrics.

Overall, I would strongly recommend this album to any lover of easy-listening electronica.

Sirah, amassing the C.U.L.T

Indie rapper Sirah release her latest album titled C.U.L.T.  (available for free download via her website).  I first discovered Sirah via Skrillex when searching YouTube and came across her "Double Yellow Lines" song.

Self-claimed "part-time rapper, full-time friend", Sirah does her own thing by not following the mainstream entertainment B.S. that is spoon-fed to the masses. CULT is the definition of want Sirah believes in.

Hot songs:

• "Up and Down" - a true testament to her time collaborating with Skrillex and using many aspects of the popular, but over-hyped, Dubstep genre.  All said it's possibly the best example of indie, rap, and cleaner dubstep.  The music video is based around dancers throwing colored chalk at each other, which does not impress me, but the video has many excellent timed cuts that compliment the music (especially at time: 2:40)
• "Made It" - Rhythm-wise, mix "Stand by Me" and "Killing Me Softly" (Lauryn Hill version).  When I first listened to CULT, I replayed this song probably 20 time in a row.  A great mixture of lyrics and rhythm.
• "When I'm Gone" - A pissed-off, middle finger-flinging, "I'll do what I f@$king want", pissed at modern society,... Goodness ;)

Unimpressed songs:

• "Blew Your Mind" - Too Britney Spears-ish during the chorus.
• "Like Me Now" - Too monotonous.

Overall CULT is a great accomplishment for Sirah that proves people can do what they love and be proud of it.  Sirah, keep following your dream and don't ever sell out!

Knife Party is Playing with Power!

The two guys that gave you +Pendulum have followed their true calling and created the new drum and bass group called +Knife Party [Pendulum] .  They've been around for a couple years with their three EPs (No Modern Talking, Rage Valley, and most recently, Haunted House).

Recently on their Haunted House tour they released their latest track "Power Glove".  Add this track to your kicking-ass club songs list.  Power Glove holds no punches right out of the gate with KP's hard hitting low bass 8th note and a rave-ish version of a sound effect I can only describe as reverbed Mortal Kombat.   Even under KP, you can still detect those signature distortions reminiscent of Pendulum.  I wish I had this song back in the days  when my buddies held all day Tekken tournaments.

No matter what state of mind you're in when you listen to Power Glove, you will experience the uncontrollable head bobbing.  KP kicked off their Ultra Music Festival show in Miami with Power Glove.  A very good choice.  KP's UMF full HD video featuring Power Glove can be found on their website or here.  For the actual song, YouTube has it here.

Go full "Spectrum" with Zedd

Zedd (Anton Zaslavski) just release his latest single titled "Spectrum".  Zedd is an electronic artist that mainly focuses on the Electronic House genre.  At 22, Zedd is going places, fast!  The German-born artist has an excellent background in music thanks to his parents, which are themselves musicians.  He can play the piano and the drums, but chose the electronic route.  An we thank him for all he has done in the sort time he's been producing music.


Like most electronic artists, he participates heavily in remixing mainstream music hits for such artists as Lady Gaga, Skrillex, Blacked Eyed Peas, and Fatboy Slim to name a few.  However, as of June 7th he blessed us with his latest non-mixed single.


"Spectrum" starts out as any House/Trance song would, a fast 8th note electric snare drum with an encroaching synth progression.  It quickly transforms into a full-featured song with a traditional base line and a brief cruchy synth.  Just when you think this is going to be boring Trance song, everything cuts-out and Matthew Koma's voice creeps in.  As the name would suggest to the reader Matthew male, duh!  However, to the unbeknownst listener, you would suspect a female.  Matthew's site is here.  Maroon 5, you don't have shit on Matthew as far as vocals are concerned.  Also, I can't help but think of the movie "Train Spotting" when looking at Matthew's picture on his site.  Matt's vocals are the icing on this single's cake!

Ok, back to the review.  Spectrum is a great title since Zedd uses a little bit of everything in this song.  Vocals for the Progressive enthusiasts, hard-hitting sawtooth base synths for you Dubstep lovers, and high-energy rythms for the Trance aficionados.  There is even some quirky sound affects that sound reminiscent of those in BT's "These Hopeful Machines" album.


Along with the highs in Spectrum come the cool and chill parts to let you catch your breath.  But don't get too relaxed.  Before you know it the blood is pumping again and you'll find your hand trying to turn up that volume knob.


Overall, Spectrum is one of those songs that anyone would like.  It's kind of like the last StarTrek movie.  Even non-Trekies thought it was awesome!  So no need to be a Techno/Electronic glowstick flinger.  Everyone should hold back on the stereotypes and give this one a listen.


Criticisms:  The ending of the song is too abrupt.  Just when you think it's time for another round, it's over.  I think Zedd could have found a better way to let us down.  He gets us hooked and then, blam!  No more soup for you!  Second and final, is the siren halfway through the song.  Just did not do it for me and kind of train-wrecks you mental mindset.


Spectrum can be found on Beatport.com or on iTunes.  Also, checkout a great teaser video of Zedd teaming up with Skrillex to remix "Don't Slam the Cinema".


Cheers!

Skrillex Matures with "Bangarang".

Sonny John Moore a.k.a Skrillex, the sole member of the band takes the next step with his latest EP "Bangarang".  Though Bangarang overall is not as hard-hitting as "My Name is Skrillex", and "Monsters...", the eight tracks show Moore's continuing maturity with cleaner sequences and even an ambient track.
Moore continues his use with the unique spliced Transformers vocals and the unforgettable style of dubstep that propelled him to become a force to be reckoned with, and also earned him three, yes three Grammys!
Skrillex is breaking the Electronic genre mold that is too often plagued with the plethora of wanabe DJs spewing out the same cookie cutter progressions.  Most promising electronic artists start with an album that has their signature fresh style.  Unfortunately, too many of them then jump on the bandwagon and do nothing but remix others' works.  Not Skrillex!
Bangarang is refined and clean.  While "Scary Monsters" shook your body to the core with super-low frequencies and mash-up splices, Banarang removes much of the un-cohesive  noise and gets to the meat of what makes Electronica/Dubstep the great new Genre that it is today.
The Break-Down:

• 8 tracks
• Bangarang EP originally released on BeatPort.
• My favorites (in order);  (7) - Summit (Feat. Ellie Goulding), (2) - Bangarang (Feat. Sirah),  (6) - Kyoto (Feat. Sirah),

Truly surprising is "Summit", featuring Ellie Goulding.  For you die-hard Dubstep fans Summit is not going to get your blood pumping.  This 140bps song is true ambient and minimalist.  Comprising of a rich deep 4th-note base rythm, it's accompanied with some simple voice samples and even full-length sentence samples from Ellie Goulding (yes Dubstep with full sentence vocals).  Since I'm a sucker for Ambient, it's my top pick.  It's because of this track it shows Skrillex is going to keep reinventing his sound and keeping the fans coming back for more.

Up next is the self-titled "Bangarang" track.  Starting with some cool guitar rifts, it quickly kicks into high-gear with Skrillex's signature mash-up samples and hard distorted base synths.  Complementing this track, and others in Bangarang, are vocals from Sirah.  Sirah is an Indie rapper that is best visually described by taking Skrillex's half-shaved hair cut and mating it with a younger burnette Lady Gaga (minus the meat suit). Keep your eye on Sirah.  Although most times Electronica does not need vocals to make a good song, Sirah is glue to Bangarang.  Dubstep fans will find themselves playing this track over and over and over...

Finally, "Kyoto".  It intros with Adam Freeland-style beats and a good rhythm.  Then Sirah gives Skrillex the go ahead to bitch-slap their listeners with the lows, the highs and everything in between.  Sirah breaks in the middle of the song with her rhymes  It's what you love!

Skrillex did collaborate with the Doors on "Breakn' A Sweat".  Although a video was made for it, I believe Moore could have done better on this one.  It would be a great track without the Doors.  Just not a big fan of the Doors...  (Sorry Toby).

Overall, if you like Dubstep don't hesitate to get this album.  And remember, settle for nothing less than some good in-ear headphones or a really good audio system with crazy subs when listening to this.  Enjoy!

Underworld Barks Back!

The British electronic band does it yet again! On September 2nd Underworld release their latest album titled "Barking". Before they graced us with their full album, they made available their "Always Loved a Film" live single. After listening to their single I knew the new album would not disappoint.

Barking keeps with Underworld's traditional 4th-note beats (Always Loved a Film, Grace, Diamond Jigsaw) and their periodic foray into the ambient (Louisiana, Bird) and just plain weird. Although most of their music uses the simplest 4th-note beats, Karl Hyde's voice and vocoder synths have always been the true instrument in Underworlds continued success.

With Barking, they coordinated efforts on the Scribble track with artist High Contrast. High Contrast is known for his deep-base and breakbeat techniques. Although I don't personally care for High Contrast's regular music, both groups put together a masterpiece with Scribble.

Their Louisiana track brings you from the typical glowstick mindset down to a calm place to relax. The foundation of Louisiana has a simple and calming piano arpeggio with Karl's vocals. No techno on this track, just simple goodness.

The deluxe version of Barking (available via iTunes) includes videos for most tracks. If you are an Underworld fan, you are accustom to their homemade music videos. The videos included in Barking range from the truely briliant originality and simplicity to the downright strange. My favorite is Scribble. It has Karl Hyde and his partner Rick Smith at the wheel, driving on a the highway with the camera only facing Karl. Karl jams to the beat in the car while crazy tie-die video affects overlay the scene. It's simple but it get's your heart pounding.

Overall, I rank Barking as Underworld's #2 best album so far (#1 is still Beacoupe Fish in my mind). The only negative thing I can say about the album is some songs seem to have the treble adjustments too low, so you may have to adjust for yourself if an EQ is available. Enjoy!