tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86346204396359515472024-03-13T06:28:33.052+01:00Aural ArtWe find the music, you enjoy it.Aural Arthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03385725006422415910noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8634620439635951547.post-17172189329966680422019-11-18T08:40:00.000+01:002019-11-20T08:16:01.589+01:00猫 シ Corp. - Palm Mall Mars<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Release Date</b>: 17 June 2018 </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Genre</b>: Mallsoft</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Country</b>: Netherlands</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Info</b>: <a href="https://catsystemcorp.bandcamp.com/album/palm-mall-mars">Bandcamp</a></span><br />
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2943979817/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=ffffff/artwork=none/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 472px; width: 100%;"><a href="http://catsystemcorp.bandcamp.com/album/palm-mall-mars">Palm Mall Mars by 猫 シ Corp.</a></iframe></div>
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You walk towards the mall. Looking up at what you have been told is "the sky", you see the grid. The grid that reminds you that everything you see has been put there. You live in a terraformed colony in Mars and this grid that surrounds it is what keeps you and all your colonymates alive and breathing.<br />
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You shake these thoughts off your head and continue on the entrance to Palm Mall Mars. You hardly remember when it was opened. It feels like an eternity, and it is, in a way. 50 years are a long time for a human-built colony.<br />
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When you cross its shiny doors you are greeted with a barrage of sounds and noises. The soft muzak coming from some far away ceiling speakers, the sounds of all the other people strolling around, the shops' personnel announcing the day's sales...<br />
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You have never set foot on the Earth. Neither have your neighbours nor your friends. Some of the colony's elders tell stories about it. You wish you had grown up there, running around in green forests and experiencing what the elders call "the sea".<br />
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Here at the mall you feel like if you were on Earth. You have always been told that this mall is modeled after another mall on Earth called Palm Mall, built in the very distant 1980's. It is hard to believe humans could have built such a magnificent place that far ago.<br />
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Having had some fun speculating what life on a colony on a terraformed Mars could be like, let's take a look at Palm Mall Mars itself.<br />
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Overall, it is a good album by the great 猫 シ Corp.. With Palm Mall Mars we see a continuation with the Mallsoft themes although it differs from "<a href="https://catsystemcorp.bandcamp.com/album/--10">家族. 劳动. 쇼핑.</a>". This time we get a more airy, crisp sound coming from the judicious use of reverb, making the mall built in this album wide and bright.<br />
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Although there are samples in this album (such as the commercials in the aptly named track number 12 "<a href="https://catsystemcorp.bandcamp.com/track/commercials-2">Commercials</a>"), it sounds tight and cohesive, not just some samples thrown in together with some reverb. Not all tracks are washed out ambient tracks, like the first track of the original Palm Mall. Instead we get some more upbeat cuts, like track 15 "<a href="https://catsystemcorp.bandcamp.com/track/meta-fashion-dept">META Fashion dept.</a>".<br />
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Palm Mall Mars' setting is inspired by a <a href="https://vimeo.com/226116678">video</a> by Christopher Hansen, which describes life in a Mars colony, and we would say this album is able to capture and transmit this feeling.<br />
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Palm Mall Mars was released on Bandcamp on June 2018 in digital form and <a href="https://www.discogs.com/%E7%8C%AB-Corp-Palm-Mall-Mars/release/12180437">green cassette tapes</a> (which sold out in a matter of minutes). It was later re-released in <a href="https://www.discogs.com/%E7%8C%AB-Corp-Palm-Mall-Mars/release/12853488">orange cassette tapes</a> in November of 2018.<br />
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Go check it out and get lost wandering around the first mall ever built on our red neighbour planet. <br />
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Score: 8/10</div>
Aural Arthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03385725006422415910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8634620439635951547.post-32801462414506264902018-03-10T18:07:00.000+01:002018-03-10T18:07:25.918+01:00Saint Pepsi / Luxury Elite - Late Night Delight<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Release Date</b>: 2 February 2013</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Country</b>: </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">United States of America (New York)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Info</b>: <a href="https://illuminatedpaths.bandcamp.com/album/late-night-delight-remastered">Bandcamp</a></span></div>
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In the latest post we talked about a "recent" Vaporwave release, released less than a year ago. Today we are going far back. Back into the "classics" section.<br />
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This is Late Night Delight, by Saint Pepsi (nka Skylar Spence) and Luxury Elite. This album was released back in 2013, when Vaporwave was still a lesser-known, niche genre. It does sound older, less mature than more recent releases, but it gives it a unique feel.<br />
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The first tracks of the split (Side A on the tape) are by Luxury Elite. These sound more like classic Vaporwave, in the likes of Macintosh Plus' Floral Shoppe, filled with chopped and screwed samples. Side B of the split was made by Saint Pepsi. While the sound does not differ much from side A, we can find some hints of what SP's music would become, namely Future Funk. These hints really show up in the tracks Angels and Enjoy Yourself. We may guess why these two tracks are some of the most well-known from Late Night Delight.<br />
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Several tracks from the album have had videos made. They are listed on its Bandcamp page. Unfortunately, the video for Enjoy Yourself was taken down a couple of days ago, "<i>for violating YouTube's policy on hate speech.</i>". It is a shame that what is truly an icon of the Vaporwave scene and aesthetic has been brought into a much darker side by all the alt-right memes.<br />
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All in all, this album is good. A classic, marking a milestone in Vaporwave's history, worth having in our collections. Pick up a tape if there are any still out there to buy (at the time of writing, there are a few left available at Bandcamp).<br />
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Score: 6/10</div>
Aural Arthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03385725006422415910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8634620439635951547.post-89433240290740768512018-03-04T21:15:00.000+01:002018-03-04T21:16:53.778+01:00猫 シ Corp. - Good Morning America<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRW_8g3sYmrt9liGzUw04A799R9O5TGKJCpj9LLPfIgt_3pSXkeTGb3py3c3OsRVydEWZtS6ErIrpkuJQAewVxZILvwEShCwmvxsKOY69l0v4h3GMEf1uKrW6yMR2MUFoeO7_oP56Tpnh/s1600/a1579131859_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1200" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRW_8g3sYmrt9liGzUw04A799R9O5TGKJCpj9LLPfIgt_3pSXkeTGb3py3c3OsRVydEWZtS6ErIrpkuJQAewVxZILvwEShCwmvxsKOY69l0v4h3GMEf1uKrW6yMR2MUFoeO7_oP56Tpnh/s320/a1579131859_10.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Release Date</b>: 26 June 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Genre</b>: Mallsoft</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Country</b>: Netherlands</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Info</b>: <a href="https://catsystemcorp.bandcamp.com/album/good-morning-america">Bandcamp</a></span></div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1204128327/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=ffffff/artwork=none/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 472px; width: 100%;"><a href="http://catsystemcorp.bandcamp.com/album/good-morning-america">Good Morning America by 猫 シ Corp.</a></iframe> </div>
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Strolling through the empty malls of a non-existing past. Diving in the waters of an alternate future. "Good Morning America" will soothe all our worries and leave us wandering forever, in a high-like state, in the Virtual Plaza.<br />
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This is the latest effort by the great 猫 シ Corp. in the Mallsoft realm. Clocking shy of half an hour, this album has everything that makes Mallsoft what it is.<br />
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The overall sound quality of this album could be described as "hazy". The treatment applied by Mr. Corp. gives the tracks in GMA a feeling of listening to them from far away, like in a distant dream. The choice of source material is focused mostly on mellow muzak samples, although on some tracks, the choice leans towards more poppy material.<br />
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The whole album was recorded on a VHS tape and then recorded back into a PC, as we can see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWFreS-4Er8">here</a>. It all contributes to creating this distant, far removed atmosphere. At the time of writing there is no available physical medium of obtaining this album, although there may be a cassette reissue in the near future.<br />
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All in all, this is a great piece for all of you Mallsoft enthusiasts. Dive into it and let yourselves be transported into the vastness of the Virtual Plaza.<br />
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Score 10/10 </div>
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Aural Arthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03385725006422415910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8634620439635951547.post-82630045850893457232018-01-03T13:56:00.001+01:002018-03-04T21:16:09.529+01:00Ensiferum - Two Paths<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8RmXNcGYBgZkXyEkvzU0vbnUv6M7xx23LtxuN1MGHPgGPAraJ_ckussf84Dh5C6vdBJvc8LwxIcYpz9AjLCE-Y-3CYQ-xWGmRWT0sqvMWVhf6xIJ2H4fSBX60cxZYBT5QFwy5itCpCo6p/s1600/2017-Two_Paths.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8RmXNcGYBgZkXyEkvzU0vbnUv6M7xx23LtxuN1MGHPgGPAraJ_ckussf84Dh5C6vdBJvc8LwxIcYpz9AjLCE-Y-3CYQ-xWGmRWT0sqvMWVhf6xIJ2H4fSBX60cxZYBT5QFwy5itCpCo6p/s320/2017-Two_Paths.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Release Date</b>: 15 September 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Genre</b>: Epic Folk Metal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Country</b>: Finland</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Info</b>: <a href="http://www.ensiferum.com/">Homepage</a>, <a href="https://ensiferum.bandcamp.com/album/two-paths">Bandcamp</a>, <a href="https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Ensiferum/Two_Paths/661803">Encyclopaedia Metallum</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Line-up:</b></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Petri Lindroos - Harsh vocals, Guitar</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Markus Toivonen - Guitars, Clean & Choir vocals, Bouzouki</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sami Hinkka - Bass guitar, Clean, Choir & Harsh vocals, Dulcimer</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Janne Parviainen - Drums</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Netta Skog - Accordion, Female & Choir vocals<b><br /></b></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Discography</b>:</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: left;">Ensiferum - 2001</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Iron - 2004</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Dragonheads (EP) - 2006</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Victory Songs - 2007</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">From Afar - 2009</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Unsung Heroes - 2012</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">One Man Army - 2015</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Two Paths - 2017 </li>
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This is the 7th full-length album by the Finnish band Ensiferum. This record features a shift in the sound of the band, initiated in their previous work, One Man Army. While presenting this sound change, the essence of the band's sound has
been kept, making this album a good work in Ensiferum's catalogue.</div>
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Although subtle, this shift in the band's sound is noticeable mostly in that there are now hardly any clean harmony sections sung by Markus and Sami. Instead, the band has opted for using choir chants. In addition, the keyboard role, as well as that of the accordion are now less predominant in the overall sound.</div>
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Leaving the sonic differences behind, the band has achieved a tight, solid performance. The work on vocals by Petri is strong and the drum delivery is precise and spot-on, as always (although not having used a click track on some tracks, as Janne stated in <a href="https://youtu.be/iaUE85WKTPw?t=5m59s">this interview</a>). Overall, the band's performance is firm and vivid along the whole album.</div>
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As stated in the previously linked interview, Two Paths was recorded on analog tape in Astia-Studio, Lappeenranta, Finland. Whether this is the key component or not, the album features a clean sound, with big, wide and powerful production. Despite these efforts in getting an "old-school", "good-sounding" production, the decision to overcompress the mastered album on the CD version undermines them. This is a sign that the <a href="http://dynamicrangeday.co.uk/about/">Loudness War</a> is still going on. The vinyl version of the album gives the listeners an alternative, tough.</div>
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Moving on to individual songs in the record, we must point out "For Those About to Fight for Metal", "
Way of the Warrior", "King of Storms" and "Don't You Say" as its highlights. Both "For Those About to Fight for Metal" and "
Way of the Warrior" present powerful riffs in the lines of the new band's sound. "Don't You Say" is a catchy song and a good piece nonetheless. </div>
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"King of Storms" is in our opinion, the best track in Two Paths. We consider it to be this good mostly for the reminiscences of the previous style of the band, which are the present in the drum sections, the verse riffs and the solo (the song has many elements that remind us fondly of tracks like "Elusive Reaches" and "A New Dawn", from From Afar and Victory Songs, respectively"). The song meets us with blazing fast rhythms and tasteful melodies. The symphonic parts this time get a predominant role (one of the few times this happens in the album), thus giving the tune a high-sounding epic atmosphere.</div>
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In conclusion, Ensiferum have delivered a fantastic album, fulfilling the expectations of the fans, at least those in the Aural Art team. It is all in all a recommended album to take a listen to.</div>
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Score: 7/10</div>
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Aural Arthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03385725006422415910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8634620439635951547.post-39182647014783949232017-09-07T18:42:00.002+02:002018-03-04T21:16:23.839+01:00Miss Construction - Kunstprodukt<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjFUshwowfgHv0Ix0V4-rwD8q_CBxmRmAwNmCjC3xqGYtjW3YsjRi2qu_bICkNTeH95RCiWSP4J4ZxRWsJndW5wNZqxlaM3Ay0kVZFKHPOoJIGPhKlUt16OxtdN11yT-MCDW8WSDWuRaZu/s1600/Miss_Construction_-_Kunstprodukt.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="600" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjFUshwowfgHv0Ix0V4-rwD8q_CBxmRmAwNmCjC3xqGYtjW3YsjRi2qu_bICkNTeH95RCiWSP4J4ZxRWsJndW5wNZqxlaM3Ay0kVZFKHPOoJIGPhKlUt16OxtdN11yT-MCDW8WSDWuRaZu/s320/Miss_Construction_-_Kunstprodukt.webp" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Release Date</b>: </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">25 April 2008</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Genre</b>: </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Industrial Electronic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Country</b>: </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Germany</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Info</b>: </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.missconstruction.de/" moz-do-not-send="true">Homepage</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Discography</b>:</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: left;">2008 - Kunstprodukt </li>
<li style="text-align: left;">2013 - United Trash - The Z Files </li>
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This is the first album from the German band Miss Construction, published in 2008. It features a clean and powerful sound. Its pounding drum machine sounds makes one feel like starting to Industrial-dance. The whole album is filled with dark-sounding synthesizers. These give <i>Kunstprodukt</i> a cohesive feel. We must thus consider it a whole album, not just a bunch of songs.<br />
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Several tracks in the album feature female vocals, which give the music a different and fresh edge. Unlike what Alien Vampires do, the vocals on this album are not distorted. <br />
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In this album we can find lyrics dealing with violence and death (<i>Eins un Zwei, Totes Fleisch, Slaughterhouse</i>), love and sex (<i>Fuck Me Too, Hass und Liebe, I Luv U, Fuck U Bitch, Pornostar</i>) and soulless pop music (<i>Kunstprodukt</i>).<br />
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This work from Chris Pohl, mastermind behind many other projects (Blutengel, The Lonely Soul Experience), and Gordon Mocznay shows an uncompromising approach to Industrial music.<br />
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The track "<i>Fuck Me, Too</i>" has been featured several times in the podcast <a href="http://www.radiofreesatan.com/darkwhispers/">Dark Whispers (Radio Free Satan)</a> alongside other great projects, such as Suicide Commando and the previously mentioned Alien Vampires, which will have some of their work reviewed in upcoming posts.<br />
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All in all, this is a totally recommended album.<br />
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Score: 8/10</div>
Aural Arthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03385725006422415910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8634620439635951547.post-18766726131397580122015-08-26T15:08:00.002+02:002018-01-03T13:53:54.791+01:00Virium - Mortui Resurgent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Release Date</b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">: September 2015</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Genre</b>: Raw Punk Black Thrash</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Country</b>: Spain (Barcelona, Catalunya)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Info</b>: <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Virium/3540347480">Encyclopaedia Metallum</a></span><br />
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2777528707/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=ffffff/artwork=none/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 439px; width: 600px;"><a href="http://viriumvoid.bandcamp.com/album/mortui-resurgent-lp">MORTUI RESURGENT LP by VIRIUM</a></iframe><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Discography</b>:</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Vlad Têpes - Demo - 2009</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wolved by the Moonlight - Demo - 21 October 2010</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Beyond the Gates of the Obsydian Kingdom - EP - 2012</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pure Hate from the Abyss - Demo - 27 October 2012</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From the Void - Demo - 11 August 2013</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mortui Resurgent - Single - 8 May 2015</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mortui Resurgent - Full-length - September 2015</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Virium is a Black Metal band from Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain. As can be heard in their music, its style is that of Raw Black Metal infused with German Black Metal influences and Punk traits. It was founded in 2009 by Dagon V. Schatten. Since then, Dagon has assembled several line-ups, most of them lasting for a short time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Current lineup</b>:</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dagon V. Schatten - Guitars (a.k.a. Hatestrings) , Bass (session) (a.k.a. Pulse of the ancients)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Uruk - Vocals (a.k.a. Sentences of death & anguish)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mortui Resurgent (The Dead Rise) is Virium's first full-length album. It was recorded during 2014 and part of 2015 in AX Studio, Barcelona.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Regarding the album's sound, it is clear and polished. These features must be understood with Raw Black Metal in mind. Mortui Resurgent does not sound like the latest Top-Billboard pop hit, as it is not crystal clear, with beautiful vocals and catchy hooks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The album was recorded partly live in the studio. Lead guitars and drums were recorded live in the studio, playing the songs in one take without a click track. Bass and vocals were recorded in multitracks, in a more standard studio manner. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This way of recording pursues a more organic sound, moving away from a copy-paste robot sound.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What Virium has achieved sonically is a piercing but yet warm sound. The album's mix sets a well-balanced presence between the vocals, guitar, bass and drums. Instrument's notes are well defined and can be distinguished from the rest of the noise. The vocals are clear enough to be understood at times.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let us comment Mortui Resurgent track by track:</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. A Path of Evil Thoughts</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The record starts off in a short intro build-up that leads to the first verse. Its riff denotes the German Thrash Metal influence mentioned earlier. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The sporadic use of palm muting in the guitars, letting them ring at times incites us to let go and enter Virium's Obsydian Kingdom. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This first verse leads to a short, early Immortal-like breakdown. After this, we return to a Thrashy bridge with</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">vocals</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> clear enough to be understood.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The second verse combines the use of rhythm guitars and lead guitars, all mixed in a way that a wall of sound suddenly impacts us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just before the abrupt end of this first track a brief but evil guitar solo strikes our ears. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">2. March of the Goat</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In contrast to the previous track, this one starts slower, with heavy riffing. This intro leads to a pounding verse of the most Thrash Black Metal kind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Uruk's vocals are well executed. They denote accurate technique and precise work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The song's mid-final verse, filled with wicked trills and leads puts the image of the March of this devilish goat in our minds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">3. Snow Over Wallachia</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This song, as well as The Rise of Cthulhu have been already released as acoustic versions in La Veu de l'Ànima (The Voice of the Soul) the first <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cordesgelides/photos/pb.379971435446341.-2207520000.1440587906./474817755961708/?type=3&theater">release</a> of Glaç, Dagon's acoustic project.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Its melodies and chord progressions make this song a depressive track filled with despair. Once again, palm muting is rarely applied, therefore accentuating some parts when used. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In some slower parts, Dagon uses a chord with its octave down root added to it. This is one of the most notable Glaç features in the track.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Snow Over Wallachia fades out smoothly, leaving us in peace and ready for the next track.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">4. Vlad Têpes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Following the smoothness of Snow Over Wallachia, Vlad Têpes starts in a Slow&Heavy way. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In this song, Thrash influences are quite noticeable.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Right after this Thrashy verse, a sudden pure Black Metal section explodes at us, with a Norwegian Black Metal-like feeling at times.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stopping at mid-song, we get to another Thrash-like section. Right before the end of the song, we return to the intro.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">5. Horror Grave</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Greeted by the sound of a shovel digging a grave, we enter this song in a Slayer-like intro. From it, we jump to a more German Thrashy verse filled with piercing pinch harmonics. The whole song balances itself between these sounds and a more Immortal-like riffing.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, this song has a doomy, Depressive feel in it. It exudes a death stench further accented by the grave-digging and narration effects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">6. Hate, Vengeance</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hate, Vengeance sets off with a news broadcast background. This leads to a Glaç </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">influenced intro, with touches of Immortal. This song presents us a more protest version of Black Metal, led by Punk infused riffing.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The middle sections sound with some Darkthrone and Norwegian Black Metal influences. This one is a relentless track, that ends in a more gradual way than what we are used to in this record.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">7. Wolved (by the Moonlight)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This track features scream and growl effects that put us in an uncomfortable mood, as if we were in a dark forest at night. This, along with the building up intro sets off for a great song. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wolved (by the Moonlight) features Thrash riffing, blended with Norwegian BM progressions and at times, Heavy Metal rhythms.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This song has a crystal clear sound, with understandable lyrics. In the final sections there are some high pitched lead guitars that contribute to this evil sounding piece.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the end of the song, one of the rare guitar solos in this album strikes us. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dagon's solos aid in the emphasis of the specific feel of each song. With no intention to show off, these solos are rather humble and grounded.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">8. The Cold and Distant Voice of a Shattered Soul</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Cold and Distant Voice of a Shattered Soul starts off with a purely Glaç-like introduction, setting a gloomy mood. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Following this rather calm intro, the song blows up in a tireless succession of raw rhythms and true Black Metal melodies, making this song one of the greatest in Mortui Resurgent. It truly depicts the Voice of a Shattered Soul.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Virium must get credit for creating such an aggressive work, with all its rawness, but managing to get a clean and precise sounding record.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">9. The Rise of Cthulhu</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Rise of Cthulhu closes this great album with Punk feels. The chord progressions in this piece truly paint in our minds the image of this evil creature. In them, we can notice and appreciate the musicianship of Virium, in contrast to other Power Chord-Blast Beat bands.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Virium has a feel for music, being able to express feelings and convey emotions with its compositions.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It consists of a painting made by artist </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1451861811" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Estel·la Juvanteny</a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. This artist is also the author behind Virium's current and definitive logo:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">EDIT: The album is already available. The Bandcamp player now points to the full LP.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">EDIT 2: The band has made the album available for free as a digital download through their <a href="http://www.viriumband.com/mortui-resurgent.html">website</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the time of writing this review, Mortui Resurgent is still unpublished with only two of the album's tracks released as a single. Mortui Resurgent will be released in September 2015 independently as a digital download through Bandcamp. Its minimum price will be 5€, but as all Bandcamp downloads allow, the buyer can offer a greater amount of money. Eventually it will be released also on other digital platforms as well as in physical format. Whether it is CD, Vinyl, Cassette or any other format is still unknown.</span></div>
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Aural Arthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03385725006422415910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8634620439635951547.post-62199128765776808842015-08-17T20:40:00.001+02:002017-09-05T12:05:13.366+02:00Dick Dale & The Surf Music Scene<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td valign="top"><br /></td><td valign="top"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from <a href="http://www.prodijee.com/surfing-in-the-sixties/">http://www.prodijee.com/surfing-in-the-sixties/</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Genre</b>: Surf Music, Surf Rock</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Country</b>: United States of America (Orange County, South California)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Info</b>: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surf_music">Surf music</a>,<a href="http://surfing.about.com/od/Surfers_Dig_It/a/History-Of-Surf-Music.htm">About: Surf Music</a></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sometimes music is composed to tell a story, other times, to express an idea. Some other times, music tries to catch a feeling and convey it to whoever listens to it. Surf music is one of these kinds of music. Surf artists tried to transport the listener to the inside of a wave, riding it on top a surf board in South California.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In order to reach this goal, the surf music usually consists of electric guitars with a lot of spring reverb on them, as well as a heavy use of the tremolo bar and slide technique. All these effects and techniques are used to imitate the sound of waving water, or flowing water. The most popular choice of guitars are Fender guitars, commonly the Stratocaster or the Jazzmaster models.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Apart from the electric guitar, surf bands are commonly formed by an electric bass guitar (Surf music was one of the first genres to make the use of an electric bass instead of a double bass popular), a drum kit, and sometimes trumpets and/or a saxophone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Surf music evolved from the work of some earlier Instrumental Rock bands during the late 1959 and the early 1960's, like The Storms, The Fireballs, The Gamblers and The Ventures. Their music was already approaching the sound that later would be known as the Surf sound. Examples of these are songs like "Thunder" by The Storms, "Bulldog" by The Fireballs, "Moon Dawg" by The Gamblers and "Walk, Don't Run", a rendition of the 1954 Johnny Smith jazz composition by The Ventures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Influenced by these works, there were two bands in the first years of the 1960 decade that defined Surf music. These bands were The Bel-Airs and Dick Dale & The Del-Tones. They created the characteristic sound that Dick Dale, dubbed The King of the Surf Guitar, coined as Surf. These two contemporary acts created pieces of work like "Mr. Moto" by The Bel-Airs or "Let's Go Trippin' " by Dick Dale & The Del-Tones.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Bel-Airs, shortly after the mentioned hit, disbanded due to discrepances regarding the use of reverb in their guitar sound. Approximately a year after, some of the members of The Bel-Airs formed The Challengers and released another hit opus, "Surf Beat". This album consists of several covers of songs mentioned before and some original works.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One song that needs to be mentioned apart is "Misirlou", or "Miserlou", by Dick Dale & The Del-Tones. This song is considered to be Dick Dale's signature single and a Surf standard. This song is a rendition of a traditional Greek song, with the Surf music elements added to it. It is perhaps the most popular Surf song, having been covered many times during the following years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Around the same time Instrumental Surf music was being developed and defined, Vocal Surf music was created. Bands like The Beach Boys and Jan & Dean were behind this pop-infused variation of Surf music. Bands like these enjoyed more mainstream success than the Instrumental bands. This made The Beach Boys and similar bands the mainstream face of Surf music, despite not being seen as true surf music by some. </span><br />
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This post discusses mainly Instrumental Surf music, but despite this, two Vocal Surf music songs have been included in the Spotify playlist, "Surf City" by Jan & Dean and "Surfin' U.S.A." by The Beach Boys.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Right after The Bel-Airs and Dick Dale started releasing and popularizing Surf music, other bands came out that brought out some ground-breaking records and singles, like "Pipeline" by The Chantays, "Wipe Out" by The Surfaris or some eerier-sounding works like "Out Of Limits" by the Marketts. </span><br />
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Although Surf music is considered by some, <a href="http://why%20surf%20rock%20is%20southern%20california%27s%20folk%20music%20%7c%20l.a.%20weekly/">South California's </a><a href="http://why%20surf%20rock%20is%20southern%20california%27s%20folk%20music%20%7c%20l.a.%20weekly/">Folk music</a>, its first wave did not last long. Come 1964, the British Invasion took place, and new genres of rock, such as Garage Rock, Psychedelic Rock emerged, making Surf rock face its demise.</span><br />
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Another factor that helped the Surf music craze end was the apparition of Hot Rod Rock. Some Surf bands shifted away from its scene and started singing about fast cars and girls, instead of beaches and waves. Some later singles by The Beach Boys, like "Don't Worry Baby" and "Little Deuce Coupe" show this change. This evolved style kept the instrumental Surf sound, but incorporating car and engine sounds, as in The Duals' single "Stick Shift".</span><br />
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Some years later the Second Wave took place, during the 1970's and 1980's, when Surf music was rediscovered by some music enthusiasts. This revived the Surf scene by releasing some compilations, along the creation of new Surf bands, like Jon & the Nightriders or Los Straitjackets. Also, Dick Dale returned to the music scene, after overcoming a rectal cancer.</span><br />
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Years later, in 1994, the film "Pulp Fiction" by Quentin Tarantino sparked off the Third Wave of Surf music. This movie soundtrack contains many Surf songs, like "Misirlou", "Bullwinkle Part II" by the short-lived band The Centurions, or "Bustin' Surfboards" by The Tornadoes. This inspired many new bands, such as The Fathoms and popularized some established ones, like the already mentioned Los Straitjackets.</span><br />
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Surf music has gone through a lot, some changes, some difficult times, but it has been kept. Its dedicated musicians and listeners have never given it up, and have given it some twists over the years. Nowadays there are many new bands while some older, established ones keep playing and touring, like Dick Dale or The Beach Boys.</span><br />
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In conclusion, Surf music is an interesting genre, as it evokes images and sensations just with its sound. Also, the fact that nowadays new bands appear is a good sign of its healthy status and following.</span><br />
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<b>References:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surf_music#Hot_rod_rock">Surf Music - Wikipedia</a></span><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Dale"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dick Dale - Wikipedia</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nesmasurf.org/surf%20music%20history.htm">A Brief History of Instrumental Surf Music - NESMA</a></span><br />
<a href="http://surfing.about.com/od/Surfers_Dig_It/a/History-Of-Surf-Music.htm"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">History of Surf Music - About.com</span></a><br />
<a href="http://wcbsfm.cbslocal.com/2012/06/12/catch-a-wave-a-surf-music-history-lesson-in-12-songs/"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Catch A Wave: A Surf Music History Lesson In 12 Songs - WCBS-FM 101.1</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.history-of-rock.com/surf_music.htm"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Surf Music - The History of Rock and Roll</span></a></div>
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Aural Arthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03385725006422415910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8634620439635951547.post-18862056014333325752015-08-15T20:45:00.003+02:002017-09-05T12:12:18.558+02:00HEXAHEDRONE<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Genre</b>: Ambient-Drone</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Country</b>: United States of America (Berkeley, California)</span><br />
<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Info</b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">: <a href="https://hexahedron.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a>, </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/HexahedronMusic/about" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">YouTube</a><br />
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=826904351/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=ffffff/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 700px;"><a href="http://hexahedron.bandcamp.com/album/wild">WiLd by HEXAHEDRONE</a></iframe><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Discography:</b></span></div>
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<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://hexahedrone.bandcamp.com/album/wild">WiLd</a> (a.k.a. On the ProWlL) - 25 August 2012</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://hexahedrone.bandcamp.com/album/awaiting">AwaiTinG</a> - 25 August 2012</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://hexahedrone.bandcamp.com/album/global-warning">GloBaL WaRniNG</a> - 25 August 2012</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://hexahedrone.bandcamp.com/album/distannt-lands">DiStAnnT LaNDs</a> - 26 August 2012</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://hexahedrone.bandcamp.com/album/dreams-frr0m-whithin">DrEaMs Frr0M WhIThiN</a> - 26 August 2012</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://hexahedrone.bandcamp.com/album/time-c0ntinuum">TiMe C0nTiNUuM</a> - 31 August 2012</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://hexahedrone.bandcamp.com/album/sheep">ShEeP</a> - 13 September 2012</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://hexahedrone.bandcamp.com/album/mind-expansi0n">MiND ExPanSi0N</a> - 25 September 2012</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://hexahedrone.bandcamp.com/album/death">DeATh</a> - 30 September 2012</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">HEXAHEDRONE, or Hexahedron was </span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">an Ambient-Drone music/art project created by </span></span><span style="text-align: center;">Julian Taquechel. Its music was published between mid-late August 2012 and September 2012. As its creator puts it, HEXAHEDRONE is focused on "</span><span style="text-align: left;">capturing the sounds, the essence, and the visuals of the Void, the Infinity, and the 4th dimension.".</span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: left;">HEXAHEDRONE's music could be qualified as wide, open, smooth and free. While listening to one of its albums, we feel like we were in an open void, free falling into nowhere. </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">Its music consists in a series of long keyboard notes, blending one into another. It also uses a high amount of space sounds and effects to recreate this feel of voidness and vastness.</span></div>
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</span> <span style="text-align: left;">HEXAHEDRONE's works are long, considering that they consist of a single track for each album. They are usually half an hour long, except for "DeATh", that lasts an hour. If we approach these music pieces like they are pop radio tracks, we will definitly not be able to appreciate its soul and its greatness.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="text-align: left;">When listened in a relaxed mood, not rushing to get anywhere with it, we let ourselves be absorbed by this drone void. Our soul is caressed by our own conscience, as it is left to rest and breathe. We can take it as a form of meditation aid.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="text-align: left;">Furthermore, following the meditation and inside looking theme, let us take a look at the cover art of HEXAHEDRONE's albums. </span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://f1.bcbits.com/img/a0754196968_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://f1.bcbits.com/img/a0754196968_10.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cover art from "<a href="https://hexahedrone.bandcamp.com/album/awaiting">AwaiTinG</a>"</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: left;">This artwork is both chaotic and beautiful. All the elements that participate in it make it usually senseless at first glance. However, if we look at it carefully, the artwork kind of reflects the spirit of the album. For example, in this particular case, the album title is "AwaiTinG". In its cover art there are several eyes and faces all looking at the same spot. We may understand it as a way to portrait the act of waiting. In addition, we may see the Easter Island Moai as a representation of the way time goes by while awaiting for that special thing to take place.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="text-align: left;">Every cover art of this Drone project depicts in some way the essence of the music, and might give us a message for us to reflect on. Its music takes us into a journey to the insides of our mind. HEXAHEDRONE is a different musical experience than what we may be used to, if we are not keen listeners of Drone, or Ambient-Drone music, and that for sure is something we should embrace and enjoy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: left;">This project is, at the time of writing this post, inactive. However, some time ago Julian Taquechel started a new project, on which he is working nowadays, called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/TAQOSHELL">TAQO</a>. Its style drifts apart from HEXAHEDRONE's, leaning more into chip tunes and electronic loops rather than long Ambient-Drone opuses.</span></span></div>
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Aural Arthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03385725006422415910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8634620439635951547.post-20505501500320707842015-08-12T20:48:00.005+02:002017-09-05T12:14:30.043+02:00Woods of Desolation - Torn Beyond Reason<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Release Date</b>: 25 February 2011</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Genre</b>: Depressive Black Metal</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Country</b>: Australia (Wollongong, New South Wales)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Info</b>:</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </span><a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Woods_of_Desolation/Torn_Beyond_Reason/290674" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Metal Archives</a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, <a href="http://woodsofdesolation.bandcamp.com/album/torn-beyond-reason">Bandcamp</a></span><br />
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1175495407/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=ffffff/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 340px; width: 700px;"><a href="http://woodsofdesolation.bandcamp.com/album/torn-beyond-reason">Torn Beyond Reason by Woods of Desolation</a></iframe><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Woods of Desolation is a Depressive Black Metal one-man-band from Australia. It was founded in 2005 by "D." and "P. Knight", although "D." is the only current member of the band. Despite being the only member, "D." has used session musicians to carry drum and vocal duties in its studio records.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is the second full-length album from the band, </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">released by Northern Silence Productions</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Line-up:</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">D. - Guitars, Bass</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tim Yatras (former Austere) - Vocals, Drums</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tim Ian Grose a.k.a. Lord Tim - Keyboards (</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Additional), Producer</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even though the album's length does not reach the 40 min mark, it is not a short record, once listened. Its length, in fact, can be considered adequate. Judged by ears unaccustomed to Depressive Black Metal, it may sound monotonous and boring. However, when we take another listen at it we find subtle nuances and melodies that make each of the album's songs a unique experience on its own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is a melancholic-sounding release. Its sound evokes sadness and a slight feeling of despair. Bearing in mind that it is a Depressive BM album, it is not really a surprise. But what indeed is surprising is a dominant feeling that expands along the whole record. This feeling is more than anything, hope.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This hope nuance is present in the melodic progressions of the album tracks. This sensation makes a beautiful contrast with the sad and desperate sound of the music.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is an album that leaves no one indifferent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a broader scope, Torn Beyond Reason is filled with massive-sounding melodies. Its distorted guitars and vocals bring in a fine dose of nuisance. But at the same time they form a wall of sound that strikes us and wraps us into its depressive yet uplifting atmosphere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This album is truly a beautiful musical piece, highly recommended.</span></div>
Aural Arthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03385725006422415910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8634620439635951547.post-11956607355658415382014-03-06T20:22:00.000+01:002015-08-17T20:51:27.314+02:00We're Back!!!<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welcome back, everybody!!</span><br />
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Aural Art is back!!</span><br />
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Because of some admin's problems, we have been down for half a year, but now we are up again, with a new and refurbished blog.</span><br />
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Before the downtime, Aural Art was about spreading the message of good music, with good quality. This face of Aural Art is over. </span><br />
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Now, Aural Art is about helping the world choose great tunes to listen to. Here, you will find reviews and recommendations of what us, the authors think is good music. Of course, we are open to suggestions, as always has been.</span><br />
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We hope you enjoy our blog, and discover the beautiful sounds of this ancestral art.</span><br />
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Regards,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
The Aural Art authors</span>Aural Arthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03385725006422415910noreply@blogger.com0