Irish doom band No Mans Land bring some crushing riffs on this EP which bodes well for further releases. This is classic doom ground down to a slow riff but with plenty of classic flourishes in there to keep things interesting. They may even have the opportunity to cross over in the future with this sound.

Take first track, the instrumental title track (one of two which book-end the EP). Its, pardon the pun, monolithic riff grinds out while some neat Metallica sounding bits threaten to make it take off. It's an impressive and brave start and shows the talent on offer.

The best of that musical talent is the bass which is brilliant throughout. Not too flashy and used to bring in slight melodies it's the best thing about 'Hawks & Vultures' which threatens to dissolve into a mess of same sounding nonsense.

'Kingdom's End' brings melody to the fore and works brilliantly making this easily the best track here. The vocals are your typical growl and get a bit monotonous but these should grow in time. Failing that, they will make a great instrumental band as final track 'Behind The Mask' demonstrates by bringing us full circle with the opener.

No Mans Land wear their influences on their sleeve and whilst there is nothing wrong with this they should soon start to look into expanding on their sound. They may be ones to watch though and may just yet rise above the current glut of doom bands.

Comprised of brothers Piotr (guitar, keys, programming) and Marek (bass) Kowalski, and backed by drummer Helmes Bode, Glasgow Coma Scale is a bombastic German post-rock band that employs a variety of influences in their musical arsenal. Apophenia, their new 4-track EP, serves to utilize these aforementioned influences to create a dense mesh of spacious sound that'll leave listeners' heads bobbing after their umpteenth replay.

Easing in with a relatively subdued, muted guitar riff in ‘Syntagma’, the EP begins by showing off the band's attention to the groove they most certainly set, as well as the electronic soundscapes that blanket nearly the entirety of this musical offering.

This electronic facet of the band sets them apart from the usual post-rock fare by adding an additional layer of musicality that isn't simply an ambient backing track, and is a hugely welcome change of pace. Before long, the track blasts with ferocity and some fantastic riffage from Piotr that certainly sets the bar for dynamic guitar work in the genre, all while the bass and drum work by Marek and and Helmes drives this beast of a track along. No doubt a great introduction to the band, and a personal favourite of the EP as a whole.

The following two tracks, ‘Funkstille’ and ‘Urania’ showcase the band's more traditional post-rock vibe, although not without a few twists of their own. ‘Funkstille’ bounces in between a static filled radio conversation that provides a unique layer of sound, to incredibly dense musical crescendos with thick bass lines and guitar slathered in distortion. Once again, Piotr throws some great guitar work in the mix and truly memorable riffs abound (look out at 3:26 of this track).

The track ‘Urania’ has a certain stoner-rock feel, as it glides along to a carefully crafted groove that leads into the welcome "chugs" of distortion. Marek's bass work stands out among the cacophony of sound to convey some funk influence and deep attention to tone. The best example can be found around six minutes in, wherein Marek masterfully carries the song against a backdrop of delayed plucks and continues this well into the end of the track.

Closing with ‘Kids Are Astronauts’ Glasgow Coma Scale once again showcases their fantastic take on post-rock. Much like ‘Syntagma’ this closer is accompanied by great electronic instrumentation, featuring a variety of tones and melodic uses that brings an edge to this band's sound. Halfway through, the context of the song's title is pushed, with a break in instrumentation that evokes innocence and nostalgia in a truly odd yet extremely welcome manner that needs to be heard to be understood. Of course, this leads into the song's crescendo, where Helmes' furious and deft drumming grind the track to its finish.

With a refined sound and a fresh change to the often stale post-rock formula, Glasgow Coma Scale delivers some amazing soundscapes, both as thoughtful as they are movement-inducing. The band's sound is punctuated by fantastic instrumentation that serves to please experienced listeners, as well as the new alike. Fans of the genre should definitely give the band a spin or two, and hope their next musical offering takes their personal brand into even more uncharted territory.

Over the last few years there seems to be a bit of a glut in terms of amusingly named bands – some seem to name themselves after a lost bet on a drunken night (I’m looking at you Panic! At The Disco), some seem to name themselves after whatever thing they saw first that day (that’s right Brocolli Shoestrings, I’m calling you out), while some seem to throw words in a box and randomly pick a few. Russian band Show Me A Dinosaur seem to somehow skirt around these pitfalls with a name I found… endearing?

Hailing from sunny St. Petersburg this is a three piece of post-rock/post-metal styling with one previous album (Evolvent, from 2011) under their belt. And from first listen of Dust it’s clear that they have adapted their sound, eschewing some of the more tired post-rock formulas and embracing chunkier guitars, minor key changes and a spacious mix that somehow still manages to sound quite claustrophobic in places. There’s a lot here to love, crammed into a 40-odd minute package.

Starting the album is ‘Man Made God’, all discordant riffs and moody atmospherics with a nice break down in the middle with some vocal samples deriding religion that dissolve into a nice, chuggy guitar riff with thumping bass. It reminds me of a few different things that I can’t quite put my finger on, but if I had to hazard a guess I’d say Neurosis or We Lost The Sea – and that’s good. This leads into ‘Bhopal’, which I assume is a tribute to the gas tragedy of 1984. The dense riffing and haunting themes continue here, melodies interweaving with one another and moving into bleak territory as they aurally sound far bigger than a three piece. The music here matches the feeling of desperation and helplessness that I’m sure the survivors of Bhopal feel, 30 years on and still reparations are being doled out slowly by Union Carbide. Bleak, doomed and without hope.

‘Values’ is the next great track, with a second half that’s drenched in reverb and feedback, the bass riding low and dirty while the guitar chimes through it all, bringing the melody front and into your ears until it breaks into a major key towards the end, providing some respite and hope from the minor key riffage we’ve had so far. This is the ‘turning point’ of the album, and while some might say the most formulaic (depending on who you ask) it has a great feel to it, doesn’t grate or feel boring, and bookends the last three tracks well.

Up next is ‘Drawing The Line’, my tied for number one track on this album. With a start reminiscent of Jakob circa Cale:Drew the reverb and echo on the guitar is gorgeous, floating around inside your head and peeling away to leave wonderful cymbals gently sizzling and gyrating while the bass anchors you in a warm blanket. And then blow me down if it isn’t Jeff Goldblum & co. from Jurassic Park discussing the benefits and pitfalls of scientific discovery and releasing something without thinking about it first. Very fitting for our current times. And then the song explodes and builds, those cymbals still circling around your head like buzzards around carrion, while the guitar slowly spirals upwards through your central nervous system until it finds its peak, exploding out of your head and taking something with it in a glorious crescendo of emotion, noise and melody. Great stuff.

The last two tracks ‘Dust’ and ‘Rain’ are the only two songs on the album to feature vocals, and the reason for the We Lost The Sea comparison earlier. Sitting somewhere between punk, metal, post metal and post rock ‘Dust’ is a track I’m sure would be a corker live, dripping with emotion and melody, but for my money ‘Rain’ is the winner, with a more prominent mix and some lovely atonal/discordant guitars. Starting slow and quite gentle you would be forgiven for expecting the track to follow the way of the rest of the album, stifling you with hard playing and an overall feeling of oppression. And you’d be right – until the vocals finish around the halfway mark. And then all of a sudden we’re into almost an album coda, where everything changes a gear into a major key and the feeling changes. It’s redemptive, and akin to the sun coming out after a cloudy day. And then the vocals kick back in, but with a major key instead of a minor framing them it changes them completely, allowing space, happiness and an upbeat finish.

I’d never heard of this band before, but since I got this album I’ve listened to it a dozen times and their first album a few times as well. I’m really curious to see what they come up with next, and I suggest you give it a spin. It’s free – what more could you ask for? Good music that’s well played, and an excellent reminder that listening and finding new tunes is a rare privilege indeed.

When a band suggests you review their record because they sound a bit like another band you recently reviewed, it does rather prime you to expect more of the same. Perhaps as a reviewer I should be more discerning. Perhaps I should be more critical of “derivative” music; pointing out where bands take their cues and sounds from. But on the other hand when you get an album with tracks such as ‘Drinking Dynamite’, ‘Louder Than Thunder’, ‘The Call of Rock ‘N’ Roll’ and ‘Satan Is Waiting’ it’s impossible to resist.

So. Black Blitz have a lot to live up to. Such song names demand a certain calibre of music. That is, good. And on their album Louder Than Thunder they dish up a fantastic mix of blues, rock and good times. It’s enough to make me want to buy some denim, leathers and a bullet belt, down a bottle of Jack and stay up way past my bedtime.

‘Drinking Dynamite’ sets up the album nicely with its stop-start riffing and an impressive vocal tone from guitarist/vocalist Thomas Bauer. What’s doubly nice is that Bauer actually sings as opposed to squealing in key. You can hear what he’s saying so while it evokes the range of Scott, Halford and Johnson it’s more in line (tonally) with Dickinson. A definite plus. ‘Going Against The Grain’ has an amazing main riff that swaggers along like an in-his-prime Keith Richards. Tapping your foot, banging your head and attempting to reach the note in the word “going” in the course are all mandatory for this track.

The bluesy swagger remains for ‘Keep ‘Em Coming’ but is balanced with some nice palm muting in the first half of the verse to add some flavour and variety. ‘Turn Up The Heat’ also features this restraint allowing the listener some breathing space with a great solid rock tune. ‘Fire And Forget’ allows bassist Christian Reiter to display some chops as he twists and turns around the guitars and vocals. The most criminal thing on this album is that ‘Satan Is Waiting’ is hidden away as the last track. This is a monster-stomper of a song, full of attitude and balls. Definitely one of the standout tracks on the album.

I’ll admit that I was surprised by this album. As I said back up the top there, I was expecting a certain style of band, a sort of AC/DC blueprint type of thing. What I got has shades of the old Acca Dacca but there is also a lot of Stones/Black Crowes to this album. The vocals certainly make it different (for reasons I’ve mentioned earlier) but it’s also the band’s ability to add groove and bounce to their songs, their ability to rein in the stereotypical licks and fills and simply write great hard rock tunes. It takes a special album to remain on my eyePod after completing a review. I like most of what I hear but to want to hear it again after the intensive review listening period requires a certain magic, a certain spark. Black Blitz have those things. Support them by buying their album. You won’t regret it.

You can’t pop down the shop to grab a pint of milk without bumping into a doom band these days. There are loads of them and they are everywhere, I honestly think there’s going to be some epic Lord of the Rings style battle between doom bands and the rest of the world soon, what a fucking day that’s going to be. I’ll on the side of the doom bands, back at camp being chef or something. Anyway, a tidal wave of tuned down, maxed out acts has brought out the best in everyone and 2014 looks to be the official year of doom. Bong, Conan and Slomatics have all brought out their best albums to date and there has also been a jaw dropping debut from Bast. So will any other releases from so early in the year stick in the memory? Edinburgh’s Jackal Headed Guard Of The Dead hope so with their third album Exaanum. Apart from having a name which is pretty impossible to remember, they play instrumental fuzzy stuff, that’s what I like to hear so let’s get balls deep.

It kicks off with ‘Ultra Cult’, a title which sounds like it’s been pinched from Electric Wizard and it’s not long before you realise they are hugely inspired by them. Nothing wrong with that, most doom bands take inspiration from the heavy weights from Dorset and simply deliver watered down twaddle. However these guys have some real power behind the riffs… spacey, fuzzy and downright catchy.

I do have a slight issue with the production, it’s a little tinny. It feels less like a punishing stack of Orange amps and more like a product of fiddling around in someone’s bedroom. This is a real shame as the riffs are there. They speed up, slow down and take you on a real little journey as any good doom album should; it just needs to be backed up by meatier production.

‘Crushed By Dread’ is a complete diamond, a delicate little riff with a wonderful tone making it almost kraut like. The bass is heavy, almost crushing and love the Electric Wizard style lead. I would compare them to bands such as Sardonis, Bongzilla, Tank 86 and even Boris at times, good shit. ‘Covenant Of The Gargoyle’ is epic, one huge fast and meaty psych jam, if I saw them live that’s when I would completely lose my shit.

This is more than a solid effort, as I said the songs are certainly there but just has slightly been let down by the production. Maybe if this was years ago I’d be shouting from the rooftops but they have some insane competition this year and they are not quite at the level of Conan or Slomatics. I’m going to keep an eye on these as a few tweaks would elevate them to epic levels, they sound like they would absolutely destroy live too.

DSBM is really the bane of my existence. I'm having a rough couple of weeks, stressed from moving into a new house, trying to finish up my degree, and working non-stop; I picked this album to review. I was putting off listening to this album because I am so busy with life, but it was always there, sitting in my queue of things to do.

So finally in the mess of what is now my life, I have a little free time in between my internet getting cut off and picking up my moving truck tomorrow to listen to this album. All I can say is....really?! As I finish a cool pint of Lone Star - aka the National Beer of Texas- and listen to this album all I can think is how it really is complementing the chaos which is all around me.

Moloch, a Ukrainian one man act, has put so much material out since 2004. While most are recordings mostly made for inner circles to hear, they are leaked into various formats for purchase. Pr. Sergiy Fjordsson, the man behind the sound has performed in various noise/black metal projects. In various articles I researched on the internet, his main medium is vinyl. I really respect an artist who stays true to a sound and type of recording which he thinks represents him well. Fjordsson is one of those guys who doesn't like to deviate. While Verwüstung is available on CD, I am sure to get the atmosphere Fjordsson wants you to experience you will have to break out the old record player.

This album is raw, this album is dark. Verwüstung really reminds me of a time when black metal was intimate. When black metal was a dark secret, hidden in the obscure, and secured in the howling cold winds of winter.

All tracks, I read from Moloch's website, are sung in Fjordsson's native Ukrainian language, but the titles are in German. The opening track 'Todesstille' is foreboding, remnant of an old horror movie soundtrack. The album then bursts into raw cold fury. Like an ancient undead army marching through a howling storm, this album is the definition of black metal. The analog sound, the haunting soundscapes, the harsh raw vocals, the running double bass. Fjordsson's sound is a kvlt as it gets.

I really can't say more about this album then you really need to listen to it. I really would recommend this to anyone as a top black metal album which has come out to date. It is a low dying sun, it is a cold wind, it is a haunting darkness.

For the fans of the old school, for the fans of when black metal was sacred and ritualistic. Get this album, nay, get the vinyl! Put on your corpse paint, light the candelabra, and crank it up. You are going to scare the neighbors and likely see Satan himself. This album rules, hard.

The Little Match Girl is a collaborative work by Anna Von Hausswolff and Matti Bye, two Swedish musicians acclaimed in their own right. As Hydra’s Dream they adapt Hans Christian Andersen’s short story of the same name into a musical narrative that explores the profoundly sad tale of The Little Match Girl in nine improvised pieces, touching on fragile, illusory pop, austere synth atmospherics and drowsy minimalism. Hydra’s Dream employ a fusion of the ancient and modern, similar in textures at times to Hypnotic Underworld by Japanese psychedelic travellers Ghost.

Her hands were almost dead with cold.

Following Andersen’s tale, the nine tracks each evoke a particular aspect of the girl’s journey. The basic story, first published in 1845, is that a poor young Copenhagen girl who sells matches in the street to make money for her father hides in a freezing alcove on New Year’s Eve for fear of returning home to be beaten for not making enough money back. To keep herself warm she strikes her matches individually and witnesses a series of hallucinations as hypothermia takes hold, including that of her dead grandmother, who the girl sees as beckoning her somewhere where her cold and fear will be no more.

Andersen believed it was ultimately a life-affirming ending as the girl was finally delivered from a life of degradation and suffering. Both Von Hausswolff, an admirer of Earth and Burzum, and Bye, an accomplished composer for film, are keenly aware of this, and moments of devastating beauty, most often due to Von Hausswolff’s vocals, emerge amid the more anxious and darker dominant sounds. The second song ‘The Little Match Girl’ begins with disorientated synths and a wandering piano, while Von Hausswolff’s shallow and wordless breathing perfectly evokes the incomprehension and desperation of the match girl.

“Hypothermia and death are the only two comfort zones we experience in this story.”

‘The Joys of a New Year’ corresponds to one of the match girl’s hallucinations in Andersen’s story, where she sees (through a cold stone wall) a New Year’s feast with a glorious plump goose, which jumps off the table and offers itself to the girl. A slow march which swells and rises seems to be indicating an overcoming of some sort, but then a harsher dissonant effect undercuts it and draws the song to an end, hauling the vision back to the grim reality experienced.

But in the corner, leaning against the wall, sat the little girl with red cheeks and smiling mouth, frozen to death on the last evening of the old year.

The choice to create an improvised musical narrative based on a short story, a form in which every word or absence of language must be revisited continually to create the required emotional or stylistic effect, may seem a counter-intuitive one, but it centres the music on the character of the Little Match Girl rather than the techniques of the written story.

The events which she experiences are spontaneous. The repetitions within the improvised songs show the insistent cycles of thought which characterise a panicked and eventually deranged state of mind. The girl still acts though, on instinct, improvising her only chance of respite from her tragic existence.

You can blame Pavement. Or Weezer. Or any of those musicians who take an archly ironic view of the world and sound like they're looking down on you if you haven't at least got an A level in English. That's the sort of sound Radstewart peddle in and on this EP it juts comes across as a little too self centred.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. There is a shortage of indie type bands out there at the moment. At least you would think so until you checked out any festival line up and seen such non-entities as Two Door Cinema Club (and where the hell did they come from?) bringing in huge crowds. So on that note, Radstewart may just have it all.

But what about this EP? Is it any good? It's difficult to tell really. Musically it's all rather twee and insipid and that is before you get to the vocals. ‘Fix The Roads’ glides along with it's minor chords creating a jangly atmosphere whilst knowing lyrics about students and their lives regale us with oh so important facts that we may be privy to. It's not awful and strangely gripping.

‘Student Wiccans’ has some rather nice backing vocals going on which lift the song up and it all passes by in a nice mellow way whilst ‘Insane Parties’ manages to include the work “archipelago” in it's lyrics. An unusual touch but one that's instantly un-gratifying and annoying. Student life was never like this in reality, it was much more debaucherous.

If you like twee indie music with “smart” lyrics you will love this band. For everyone else they will be fairly inconsequential. Indie music used to offer so much and there are bands out there who are delivering this sort of stuff in a much better way – take Seazoo for example – Radstewart just offer a bad taste in the mouth.

Motorpsycho have the sort of band name that makes you imagine raucous metal or punk played at a vicious rate. That's until you listen to this album and wonder where in hell did this band come from to make music as sublime as this. Further investigation then reveals that they have been around for over 25 years and this is one album of many. Even further reading reveals a band whose sound as evolved from noisy rock to jazz to soulful psych whilst still retaining a Motorpsycho feel.

Of course, many of you readers may already know this and some of us are just late to the party. If being late for the party means that the first two songs you hear from these musicians are the opening two tracks on this album then you are in for a huge treat.

The 60's flower psych of ‘Cloudwalker’ is a nostalgic trip back to Carnaby Street times whilst ‘Ghost’ is simply beautiful and out does Flaming Lips in every way possible. It's almost a jarring feel when the guitars kick in for the rest of the album and you wonder if you've possibly changed record.

Once the fuzz filled guitars of ‘On A Plate’ kick in you know you are in heavy psych territory with added retro flair thrown in. This is par for course for most of the album now and adds an added dimension to those first two songs.

Motorpsycho are not ones to rest on their laurels and are continuously looking for different ways to present their music and so as the old school ‘On A Plate’ plays out we are thrust into the motorik ‘The Promise’ before ending in prog territory with ‘Kvaestor (incl. Where Greyhounds Dare)’. It's one invigorating and interesting ride and deserves plaudits and repeated listens. Totally excellent!

‘Hell, part 4-6: Traitor/The Tapestry/Swiss Cheese Mountain’ takes the prog rock even further as it builds from a slight acoustic beginning into something Genesis may have released around the time of Selling England By The Pound. Minor chords usher in folk stylings and the obligatory theremin and cello create a haunting sound that is utterly beautiful. This then builds up into an almost orgasmic moment of noise as the music rises up once again. Brilliant.

‘Entropy’ slips back into acoustic psych territory before ‘The Magic & The Wonder (A Love Theme)’ lifts up the ante with its celebratory sound which could have come straight of Soft Bulletin. Finally ‘Hell, part 7: Victim of Rock’ pulls out all stops as we career back into heavy psych territory once again.

There are so many nooks and crannies to explore on this album that you will be here for months listening to this. Motorpsycho have amalgamated a whole heap of sounds into what makes a fantastic and interesting album. The playing is superb throughout and there is never a moment of boredom even during the longer songs. A masterpiece of sorts, it is wonderful that bands are not afraid to make albums like this anymore. You need this album in your life, it's terrific, essential and totally brave.

Hailing from the murky northern depths otherwise known as Leeds Canaya formed in the midst of 2010 with “an uncompromising urge to play powerful heavy music, pulling metal firmly into the 21st Century.”

And if that’s good enough for them to score a slot on Cult Of Luna’s Beyond The Redshift then it is definitely worth checking out, so after a long wait following their initial debut 2010 EP Alignments Of Dying Planets they present us with EP number two Sealed Within The Walls.

As ‘Levitating Casket’ opens proceeding in thunderous fashion the biggest urge they possess is to worship at the altar of the RIFF!

Drawing in influences of the more aggressive earlier works of Mastodon and Baroness mixed with the mid-paced death metal grooves of Immolation to superb affect, and as you can imagine the pace and rhythm does not sit still for a moment with various acute time signatures coming and going with even a burst of Middle Eastern melody shoe horned in.

RIFF!

That seems to be the best way to summarise ‘Award Winning Bastard’ as it's death metal meats sludge concoction barrels along without a care in the world that is only halted by the neatly done post-hardcore tinged breakdown.

RIFF!

Yup no let up from ‘Monarch Of Sin’ with further barrelling RIFF-work and mid paced groove that also springs surprise with the inclusion of clean vocals during an extended post-hardcore segment while the death metal influences are far more pronounced around this.

‘Committed’ is an Unsane cover that features a guest appearance of John Sutcliffe from (now sadly defunct) Humanfly and is suitably beefed up to fit with into their own groove, the last track is the very suitably monikered ‘Audio Porn For The Blind’  that combines everything they do well and more by throwing some grindcore into the mix.

RIFF!

Whether you landed here because you are interested to get to know what Online Architecture is or by chance, please watch this sort of manifesto video and, maybe, you'll be curious enough to read my words about it.

Online Architecture is one of those cases where one could imagine how the album will sound just by looking at its cover artwork. A ceremony from a far dictatorial regime where one of the appearances seems passed out due to the long lasting performance – this is the idea I had looking at the cover of Online Architecture – is for sure peculiar and, in the same way, the album is definitely unusual.

Online Architecture is the debut record of Symbol, the solo project of producer and multi-instrumentalist Christopher Royal King already well known as a founding member and lead guitarist of the huge band This Will Destroy You from Austin, Texas. The album will be released on April 8th via the Austin label Holodeck Records that has been releasing a varied range of albums in the past twelve months.

Listening to the the six tracks of Online Architecture again and again is like experiencing each time something different because every time you discover that detail that makes the difference. The overall sound appears like the overlapping of several different tones and elements creating a compounded quantity of detail and decay. The atmosphere is sometimes inspiring, other times is murky and always vibrant. Some moments are quiet and incredibly heavy at the same time.

'Clear Passage', the album preview we can listen to now, starts quietly and softly and brightens like the sun on a summer day but in a while it turns out to be dark and slowly slides into a into transcendent drones. It's like if something is going to happen but you don't know if it's good or bad. It's a great preview of a terrific and complex album.

Online Architecture starts with 'Tracer' where, as happens throughout the album, the organic sound-sources are scrupulously transmuted through magnetic tape. The first track is most of the time psychedelic with its hypnotic rhythm and sparse minimalism.

'Shadow Harvesting' and the following 'Syn Cron' must be experienced together. The free-floating spirituality of 'Shadow Harvesting' is so deep that a careful listener will feel like diving into abyss. Press play and it's like when you open the window and the light is so strong that you are not able to open your eyes. The sound slowly changes when it flows into 'Syn Cron' and, through the distortion that the talented King creates, the light starts growing dim till becoming completely dark. The progression is intense and the notes reflect all the nuances from the brightest to the darkest color. It's cold and warm.

Single sounds are allowed to breathe, bounce and reflect, sometimes with more than a second delay in between. It's the turn of 'New China': 2:18 minutes of pure beauty.

The closing 'Lineage' immerses listeners into hazy, nebulous, and obscure drone where the space is full of images of dense atmospheres, gloomy textures and foggy dusk. The gray shadow of this song is stunning and the echoing drum beats are like echoing dreams from the past. The atmosphere is melancholic and icy. The soft touch of the layered guitar is warm and dramatic at the same time. The fascinating structure of this song and how it evolves is the confirms the talent of Christopher Royal King and it's the proof that Symbol has a great potential for the future.

Higly recommended to open minded listener.

It's been two years since Hans Chew's debut album Tennessee and Other Stories, an album which introduced us to the barrel house playing of Hans and his exploration of Americana. Interviewed here at E&D he filled us in on his mission operative and regaled us with stories of his time on the road. He also talked of his new song which was going to be the new single.

Then all went quiet, not a peep, until now, two years later when we suddenly find ourselves with Life and Love. Not that Mr Chew has been quiet, already this year he has appeared on D. Charles Speer's album and toured the states of America. This urge to collaborate has been his muse for the last couple of years and the experience shows on this set of songs.

Life and Love is a much more confident album than Tennessee. This shows from the off with the strange instrumental opener 'Chango' which is like some haunted piano in an old time saloon counting out time. This then explodes in glorious technicolour with the brilliant 'Tom Hughes Town' as the spirit of Muscle Shoals takes over.

Hans Chew - Junker's Blues from endless picnic on Vimeo.

The shadow of early Elton John is all over this album, as is Billy Joel and before you shrink away, this a good thing. If there was a spiritual brother for Life and Love it could most certainly be Elton's Tumbleweed Connection, as good an album about America that you will ever find.

There's a gospel feel about 'Love' which rides along on the back of the piano, as do all the songs on this album, and feels both fresh and nostalgic. 'Strange Love' has a funky feel about it which threatens to burst into full horn mayhem but pulls it back to sound like something vaguely 80's whilst 'Goodnight' channels in 70's Rolling Stones in ballad style.

'Mercy' chugs along at a fair pace until right at the end when you could be forgiven for thinking you had entered some Southern revival meeting as the choir pumps out it's song and the music gallops along. This is then tempered by the beautiful 'The Wedding Song' which glides by on a simple melody before building up into one of those songs that feels like it's always been there. It's almost a summation of the times on this album which, as can be seen from the title, deal with some rather big things in life.

It could have been trite but Hans Chew's way with words is elegant and subdued with more than a twist of irony. He may gather plaudits for his piano playing but the man certainly knows how to write as well. His amalgamation of old time Americana, religion, love and yes, life, it's a perfect accompaniment to a wonderfully played out album.

'The Supplanter's Song' is just phenomenal as the funky guitar plays against a backbeat of question and answer vocals before breaking down into a freefalling crescendo as Hans literally pleads his words out. It's pure 70's and it's all been done before but on this standing, it can keep it's head held high. 'Junker's Blues' then finishes the album in blinding style as it practically grabs you by the throat and forces you to move your body.

It was obvious that Hans Chew was a major talent on the Americana scene two years ago, now we can safely say he is one of the front runners and with Life and Love he has set the bar high for not just any other band to follow but also himself. Elton John was mentioned earlier in this review, this album is not as good as Tumbleweed Connection but given time it will certainly be spoken in the same breath as that album. An essential purchase not just for Americana fans but any lover of good music.

So here’s the totality of the information I can find out about Dope Out:

1: They’re from France (possibly Paris)

2: This is their debut album called Bad Seeds

3: The band members are Stoner (Guitar/Vocals), Dok (Bass), Crasher (Lead Guitar) and Tekila (Drums)

4: That’s it

Armed with absolutely no idea how this band came to be, where they met or any of that background info that does colour reviews sometimes, I can only begin where it starts and ends – the music. Perhaps that’s their plan....

The album kicks things off in fine fashion with ‘Death Before’ a punk rock racket that features a verse riff that is designed to make any crowd bounce up and down whilst bellowing out the incredibly singable “woah-oh” sections of the vocals. There is a lovely touch at the end of the chorus where the band displays a nice sense of melody utilising some harmonies. ‘XS’ starts with a blues based riff that sounds like something from the mid-90s (think Thunder, Skin et al) before beefing up the distortion and morphing into (go with me here.....) something that rhythmically resembles The Beautiful People. No really. I played the track to my wife and she agreed and she’s a doctor.

Standout track on this album is ‘Blessed Revenge’ with its deceptive melodic intro; there is something ominous yet mainstream about the song. Its lyrics sang alternatively by (I assume...) vocalist Stoner and what sounds like an unidentified female. If any of the band would like to clarify this for me, that’d be great. There are sweepingly melodic passages and heavy riffs woven throughout the song. This is the song that would get played on rock radio. And the fact that they have the balls to end on a riff that only appears for the last minute or so of the said song, is genius.

Elsewhere there are other gems too: ‘Revelation’ is the kind of song The Offspring used to write back when they were good. ‘Str8’ is a great rock tune that you play loudly whilst you’re getting ready to head out on a Friday night (terrible title though). ‘Never Back Down’ sounds like Therapy? giving The Almighty a damn good seeing too. Album closer ‘Die Alone’ finds the band in a more reflective mood with military style snare rolls underpinning some wistful vocals from Stoner (SIDE NOTE: Seriously guys, your “names” make you sound like The Bash Street Kids. Might be worth reassessing. Just a suggestion.)

This is a really strong, solid debut album featuring lots of hooks, lots of bits that crowds can sing and enough heavy guitars to satisfy most metal heads. It’s a pop/punk/rock hybrid and it works surprisingly well. With the right promotion this is really a band that could go places and make a name for themselves. With luck, there will be much more to come from this French four piece and with this as their foundation; they’re on course for great things.

When it comes to bands from New Zealand, the only ones I can think of is expert tunesmith’s Crowded House and Split Enz (and the wonderful Jakob - Ed.). Add Sora Shima to the list of those with a way with melody, for their début album You Are Surrounded is full of searing skyscraping guitar lines, in their own words, “dark and dreamy instrumental craft”.

Having independently released three e.p.s since their inception in 2006, this début is the result of a long process held up by lightning strikes, scrapped recordings and losing and gaining family members. Sometimes it takes a little pain to bring out the best in an artist, the melancholia and euphoria of the tunes on this fine long player exemplify this notion.

There’s no other way round it, if you’re a fan (and I suspect these guys are) of Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky, then you will appreciate Sora Shima. If those bands are too mainstream or not chin stroky enough for you, then you should probably move on now. You Are Surrounded is not going to revolutionise instrumental music, but it’s a really enjoyable listen and I unashamedly welcome them to my ear space.

Revealing a penchant for puns, ‘Gang Violins’ and ‘Fill Spectre’ commence proceedings. The former has a slow build up of ambient keys, pleasing shimmering guitars and a rolling bass groove. There’s a slight tilt to more metallic sounds and the track ends with squeals of feedback. A good start. ‘Fill Spectre’ is more muscular from the off with a driving riff and warped keyboards. Flurries of sampled speech add to the superb filling of the sound space as guitars build up for a wall of sound. At the mid-point, the track stops to virtual silence, ethereal keys and more speech samples usher us out the door marked exit.

It’s during ‘Glass Coffins’ that the simplicity of the drumming begins to dawn on me. The lovely melodic and fluid guitar lines are usurped by the kind of percussive strikes that groove 118 on the trusty beatbox would be knocking out. The melody line of the lead guitar is a huge swathe of earthy depth, the band finally coerced into letting rip and the sound is immense (not Russian Circles immense, but then, this is from another post rock dimension). Brilliant. Maybe the less is more drumming actually suits the music, leaving the guitars more room to stretch out. This track ends with more reflective sounds, probably wouldn’t sound out of place on Young Team.

‘Fire-arms/Cowboy Destroyer’ is an attempt to let the drummer get wicked, but I’m not a fan of ticky-tacky rim tapping and it takes almost three long minutes for this to stop. Again the guitars are simple and superbly melodic, a real strength for Sora Shima. Some neat military snare work in the interlude brings us to a heavier fuller sound. You get the idea with how each track is going to pan out, but as I said, this is a sound I enjoy. I’m in my element with all the Explosions In The Sky soaring lines, each one reaching higher and higher into the stratosphere. That said, I just wish there was a little more variation to the track structures, just to mix things up a little.

Sora Shima do like their mellow moments, ‘And Behold a Pale Horse’ with wandering guitar lines and random astronautical speech, is ably followed with ‘Acidhouse’. This tune finally demonstrating some tinkering with the formula, with lovely piano and backtracked guitars over a quiet bass groove. The band can’t resist the urge to do the inevitable though and the big finale makes a show before it’s over. It’s still great though.

‘Raytheon’ is ambient John Carpenter-esque synth burbling before final tune ‘Sendai/Kurosawa’ ends the album. A piano led track, it’s beautifully simple and overtly melancholic. Some lumpen drumming threatens to derail the moment of beauty before sinister guitar melodies appear, like some wild animal on the hunt. The familiar mid-section silence showcases some lovely guitar tones before the main groove menacingly returns. ‘After the Funeral’ is merely a brief outro of twinkling keyboards.

Once again I’ve managed to dissect an album and mention some minor misgivings in my analogy, when the overriding feeling I have for the album is one of warmth and enjoyment. I recommend you give Sora Shima your attention, even if you are one of those aforementioned elitist fans of this genre, who didn’t move onwhen advised earlier. I think there’s more to come from them, I’ll certainly look to hearing more new music, just don’t take so bloody long next time!

Gig going can often be full of missed opportunities. The list of bands that I've followed for a long time but have not seen live is longer than I'd like. Various factors contribute to this, lack of funds, clashes with work or other commitments. Whatever the reason there's always a sickening feeling at missing out. So despite having many opportunities to see 65daysofstatic live, this was to be the first time everything fell into place. That sickening feeling still came up though, sickened that I hadn't done so much sooner.

Things got underway with the excellent Thought Forms in support, however. Signed to Invada Records and having supported Portishead amongst others I already expected them to be no slouches live although I was still unprepared for just how good and loud they actually were. For a three piece the intensity of volume was something else, approaching Mogwai levels of deafening roar. They aren't all about volume though. They shift between early sub-pop indie grunge sounds and a heavier almost ethereal doom sound.

The barefoot Deej Dhariwal reminded me of Effrim Menuck, who I'd seen recently with Thee Silver Mt Zion. He hammered at his guitar and almost seemed to be conjuring notes and wails of feedback from it. Charlie was also impressive, her vocals contributing to the atmospheric vibes. They have a split release due for record store day with Esben & the Witch and hopefully it'll not be too long before they're back.

65daysofstatic took to the stage with the familiar "No one knows what is happening" intro of 'Heat Death Infinity Splitter'. Pretty soon we all knew exactly what was happening though, witnessing one of the best live bands on the planet. I'd heard many times that 65dos were special live but it still didn't prepare me for the assault on my senses.

Lights flashed, synths resonated and beats pounded loud enough to derail the nearby trains. 65dos have found a way on record to perfectly blend the electronic and rock elements, it's equally impressive how this is taken further live. Their latest album is probably their sound perfected but also one of the best examples of how to push boundaries in creating instrumental music.

Live the tracks are performed with vigour and stunning effect. Every stab of synth or tweaked beat is amped up, guitars set to stun, bass and drums like a rhythmic beast. All combined it encapsulates the reasons we love their music and unleashes it in a sustained attack. Of course there are subtle moments, performed meticulously and creating many jaws to drop and eyes close in awe. The subtle build ups of 'The Undertow' or the dizzying highs of 'Unmake the Wild Light' would probably be highlights for any other band, but 65dos had plenty more in their locker.

What makes 65daysofstatic such a great live band is the enthusiasm and energy on stage. Paul and Joe crash and collide as much as the beats and guitars, with a genuine look of enjoying every minute. I haven't seen another band perform so well while either churning the riffs out or all hunched over synths/samplers.

Sometimes bands incorporate effects or synths and it feels almost token-ish. Or said effects are lost in the mix, not 65dos though. The performance in equal parts makes you want to rave like a lunatic and headbang like a maniac. It's testament to them that all the elements of their sound are performed seemingly with ease.

This year of course sees the 10th anniversary of The Fall of Math. London had seen a full performance of it a few days previous to tonight. As great as that would have been Wild Light is still the main focus for touring however. So I was more than happy to witness a bulk of the latest album live. Hearing and watching those tracks preformed brought a huge smile to my face after multiple listens to the album. Of course there was a frantic performance of ‘Retreat! Retreat!’ The vast majority of fans joining in with the sampled cry of "this band is unstoppable" before losing their shit. 'Radio Protector' as well pleasing the long term fans and another highlight of a night crammed with them.

65daysofstatic are one of those bands I'd recommend to anyone to see live. If you appreciate live performance, few do it better.

Thanks to Simon Glacken at Ilikepress for arranging. Pictures provided by Dani.