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Avant-Garde Metal
28th Feb-14th Mar
15th Mar - 21st Mar
This was a theme I thought of when I first thought about making music blogs. So I hope it's a good one. Check out what I've been listening to at http://www.last.fm/user/ice_9
Music Mag #5 - Damn It All - Songs about Desperation and Futility
Some songs can bring a lot of emotion with them, others bring introspection and thoughts to mind. Some of my favourites share a universal theme of desperation and the futility that causes, and ultimately ends any hope. The way humans cope with and respond in this kind of situation is one that absolutely fascinates me. How they respond to being reduced to nothing and becoming helpless as the day they were born. It seems it is little wonder that I would be drawn to songs that evoke this.
Jonathon Coulton is undoubtedly one of my favourite musicians. His simple music is surprisingly deep and some of the them really resonate with me. I thought I'd ease you into my blog theme with a simple, easy to listen to song. However the desperation is still clear in this track. The character is stuck in his dead end, unfulfilling job and is desperate for the freedom and good life that he believes he deserves. Meanwhile he is under the impression that the woman he sings about will solve all his problems, yet all the while knowing that it will never happen. This is the kind of thing that many of us are likely to experience at some point in our life. The lyrics "I've got it in my head that maybe..." is the sort of day-dreaming optimism that is so easily crushed by life. It's a pretty song initially, but the more I listen to it, the more I see it as a mask hiding how shitty life can be. Jonathon Coulton is much more than the song he did for Portal and I urge you to all give him a more extensive try. Check out his website [/b]here[/b]. Expect to see another of his songs in a future blog.
These are my two favourite Evergrey songs by far and it's no surprise when they both make me think of this week's subject. Firstly, Thomas Englund has one of the most emotional voices I've heard in metal and it is dripping with the desperation in this track. The lyrics show how powerless children can be without the protection of their family around them. Hoping for some kind of way out that will never come. When The Walls Go Down is someone literally begging for guidance and help from his god that he ultimately knows will never come. The man is pained and harrowed by the collapse of the one thing, his faith, that kept him safe and gave him purpose. He wants out but he can't allow himself to have it. He goes through the pain of what is expected of him, by himself, even though he scarcely believes it anymore. It breaks him down until ultimately he finds himself at fault. Where he goes after, I have no idea but this is an incredibly powerful song and I love it for that reason.
This song is a slow build-up and has a wonderful sound to the whole thing, but more important to me are the lyrics and the story they tell. This is another kind of futility that many of you have probably tried to deal with. The harsh reality that there's no clear meaning to life and that we're just flesh and bone trying to survive. There's no god to answer you if you don't believe in it and sometimes there's just no reason to get out of bed. From this follows the realisation that you are alones and a nihilism settles in that no amount of hope or desperation can cure. There's no easy answers and no one out there to give them to you. "If this is all there is, if this is it, won't, won't someone tell me?" The singer goes through all of this and has "found a way out of here". You don't have to think much to figure out what it is.
I thought I'd try a more abstract notion for this issue. I hope you like it and please link me some songs that have the same sort of message that these do. I'd like to add more but I thought I'd go with quality of quantity.
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I'll throw something a bit bippy and boppy in here with the serious stuff above. This is the finest chiptune album I've heard and one of the best video-game soundtracks of all time. Souleye, also known as Magnus Pålsson, was hired to make the soundtrack for the wonderful VVVVVV and did a damn good job of it. Opening with the soft, resonating Presenting VVVVVV the album bursts into upbeat chiptune to shame any Atari catridge you own. With tracks like Pushing Onwards that greet you at the beginning of the game through to the final track about how evil the creator of VVVVVV is, this album is sure to blow you away with real quality chiptune. Even plenary (game complete jingle) is amazing and it's 22 seconds long. The album is so good that I own the mp3 download and I want to get the physical CD. I also just found out about PPPPPPowerup! which is full of remixes of PPPPPP so I may have to get both of these. You can buy a digital download from as little as $6, which is a bargain as far as I'm concerned, from Souleye's Website
Double Devin this week, but I had to share this song with you guys. This a track off the upcoming Ghost album (release date currently the 20th June) and it makes me need the album. This track starts of beautiful and sways between eerieness and beautiful throughout the track. The flute is mesmerising and Devin's voice is spot on. The atmosphere generated throughout has controlled my mood no matter how I feel when I start listening to it. I stifle a smile every time it starts and it just makes me at ease all the way through. The artwork is beautiful to boot (you can see the main cover here). I'm really starting to feel to merit of good chill-out music, so this song came at a perfect time for me. Expect a full review of the album when it's released.
My New Albums
Scurrilous - Protest The Hero
The new album from the Metalcore group. I was a bit iffy with it at first and thought about it a lot. This is the best way I can sum it up: It's not as catchy as the previous records, neither is it as varied. However, the musicians kick some serious arse on this record, especially the drummer so it is definitely worth checking out. From talking to other PtH fans it's clear that everyone has a favoured album and there doesn't seem to be anyway to predict it. It's just which one hits them. This could be your favourite album by them, it could be your least favourite. If you're new to the band I'd still suggest trying their other albums, Fortress & Kezia, instead. Check out Tapestry for some amazing music and Sex Tapes for the highlight of the album.
At The Edge of Time - Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian have their own brand of Power Metal. If you've heard it and like it, you'll like this. It's kinda like A Twist in the Myth but more symphonic. I love it. If you're not familiar with Blind Guardian, imagine the singers from fantasy books with their songs of war and heroes and throw those lyrics into incredibly over-the-top vocal harmonies all the while having screeching, almost neo-classical guitars raging in the background. Sacred Worlds and Wheel of Time are the two to go for. Blind Guardian are a really good band and if you haven't heard of them, nows the time to try them out.
Albums Released This Week
I got three new ones I know of this week:
Surtur Rising - Amon Amarth
The Viking Metal/Melodic Death Metal band have got their new album out this week. I got mine today. It's a good album on first listen. Carries on where their previous albums left off musically.
Blood Alliance - Power Quest
Power Metal from the UK who have finally got a singer who doesn't sing in the whistle register (he didn't really, but it was some crazy falsetto). I like power metal so this album also arrived today on release day.
Mammoth - Beardfish
Swedish Prog Rock band's album is out this week. They're pretty accessible in my opinion. If you like rock music you could do worse than to try it out. I may be getting it eventually.
Last Paragraph
I love artwork in CDs and if I had a good camera no doubt I would be adding a bunch of shots of it to this blog. I've found a lot of people can give or take album artwork which I find interesting. I've never disliked an album because the artwork is poor but I've often looked at it and thought "what the hell were they thinking?". My dad reads Jazzwise magazine which has a section every month about artwork disasters and I'd love to know what they'd make of the Extension of the Wish artwork. Inside there is a shot of the members climbing out the sea. It's crazy. The "At The Edge of Time" booklet is full gloss which was impressive. The issue is it's impossible to read the text in anywhere but a surgery, the text is so dark and unclear it's crazy.
