Tag Archives: TOTW

TOTW: Crystal Castles_’Baptism’

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On hearing Crystal Castles had broken up last week I got a bit nostalgic and gave their albums a listen through.

I managed to see them live four times. Two of those gigs were easily in my top ten and one of which was one of the worst I’ve been to, I think it sums up the band quite well. They were bottled lighting, trying things that were always different and when it did work it reminds me of the descriptions of the punk movement in the 70’s. Anarchistic youthful rebellion wrapped up in a sound scape that forced you to either be in the gang or out.

I’m most certainly In that gang. When I look back at their catalogue Baptism stands out as to me as the perfect introduction to their work. It has everything that made them great, The video game style synths, the screeching vocals of Alice Glass and the hard compressed repetitive drums all make for a unique and exiting work:

TOTW: System of a down_ Toxicity

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I’d like to start with the caveat on this one that metal isn’t really a genre of music I enjoy on the most part. When I boil down my issue with most of the genre and all of it’s sub-genre I would say that although It contains allot of talent It usually feels a bit empty to me. By definition its sound is Harsh and angry and yet allot of the time the lyrics and vocals don’t seem to put across this anger and hate.

In Toxicity System of a Down don’t have this issue. The whole album seems to come from a place of overt anger and hatred conveyed perfectly in its title track below:

TOTW: Kutiman_ Give it up

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Kutiman is creating some fresh and exiting music that quite simply couldn’t exist five years ago.

This whole track is made from chopping up other artists on youtube creating a college of samples which then become a fully featured track, a great one at that.

This music exists because of the evolution in technology over the past few years. We can now get “usable” audio quality from our mobile phones and then upload it straight to online for other people’s consumption and even use. Something Kutiman exploits brilliantly:

 

TOTW: Aphex Twin_ minipops 67 [120.2][source field mix]

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It’s been a long time since Richard D. James released music under his most famous alias Aphex Twin, 14 years to be exact.

Now the time has come for the release of Syro later this month and to build up anticipation minipops 67 has been released to tease it.

It may have been 14 years but this track manages to show that he has been keeping up to date with the latest musical innovations interweaving them with the unique sound Aphex Twin is known for to create an evolution of his work that is still true to its roots.

I look forward to hearing more:

TOTW: Sun Kil Moon_Carissa

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Ok I’ve Cheated… A little bit. Although the opening track is my TOTW, The album “Benji” by Sun Kil Moon is truly outstanding and easily my favourite album this year up till now, so I had to include the whole thing.

If you have an hour, sit back and listen to it. It takes you on a journey. A dark voyage that you may not like to travel down often. The album may be bleak in many ways and full of death but it still manages to convey that life goes on and you should appreciate what you have for the brief time you have it:

TOTW: Simon & Garfunkel_The Boxer

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This is my favourite track by Simon & Garfunkel and that’s no mean feat considering they are some of the finest songwriters in history. Although the track is stunning lyrically, what really sets this above their other works is the mix. The track slowly blossoms into something darker as we go deeper into the profile of the subject. Instrumentation is built upon from a traditional acoustic guitar setup to feature rich tapestry from many different instruments from across the spectrum.

All of these instruments feel like they are suited to fit the story. The heavy tom that sounds like a hard punch on the chorus, the sorrowful and contemplative sound of the pedal steel guitar and then the string swells and deep brass towards the end all contribute to the piece.

The Boxer is quite simply a masterpiece. Something that was made by artists at the top of their game and with the love, care and attention of people who truly believe in what they are doing. I will never tire of it and it will never leave me: