This album was quite a nice suprise, this band from good old Hungary play some beautiful, heavy, serene  and melodc post-rock. They seem to take what is great about a number of post-rock bands, for example Russian Circles’ seriously heavy moments, Explosions in the Skys’ ability to move from loud to soft with precision and even Mono’s more anthemic moments and tailor them all into one.

The album forms from its first track spruking some spoken word overdubs that seem to be date stamped around the 1950’s, but it is in Hungarian of course. From then on we are treated to some very nice tunes – a lot of the album shows great dynamic with a cello and piano often leading the songs with intricate drumming and beautiful guitar work. What sets these guys apart from the previous post-rock acts mentioned is that they do have vocals on a few tracks, and these by no way detract fromt he listneing experience, rather enhancing it in my view. The vocalists voice is sincere and clearly demonstrates plenty of skill, and it is always a good thing when a voice can move you regardless of the language barrier. This is definately a great album if you want something to listen to in the dark hours of the night.

Oh and four of the members of the band are architects – nice.

While playing pool tonight at the Norwood Pool Hall a familiar drum intro played on the jukebox. I Immediately recognised this song as Jeff Buckley’s ‘Everybody Here Wants You’, the soulful, romantic crooning of a man in love with a flawless woman. There is something about this song that strikes me – it’s almost as if Buckley really shoudln’t be singing this type of music but he pulls it off incredibly. This isnt the only great track on his final unfinished album, Witches Rave, Nightmares by the Sea, Yard of Blonde Girls – they are all wonderfully crafted pop rock songs from arguably one of the greatest voices of our generation. RIP

Thank you Bolachas.org for this sensational blast from the past. The record features rare, old and raw recordings of the artists of Panama. You’ll find energetic tropicalia, brazilian rhtyms, funk inspired sould and brass wonders within this diverse compilation celebrating the music of Panama. My favourites are the latin piano tracks that just beg for you to get up and move your feet – truly infectious music this is!

You cannot pin this band down at all, early on they showed hints of electronic prog rock and from there they developed an all engrossing sound ranging from fuzzy rock n roll, pop/rock sensibility and sing-a-long soul rock. The year ahead for Portugal. The Man is going to be huge – they will more than likely release a few albums, a dvd and numerous b-sides so there will always be something fresh. This EP is a 23 minute foray into electronic laden beats, melded with sombre vocals and hints of …wizardry..it really feels magic. The last track would have to be the most satisfying 3 minutes of my musical exploration – it is just that good.

Three tracks of complete and utter insanity from The Mars Volta. Cut That City has some heavily distorted vocals and keyboard driven rhythms that get your feet moving. Concertina is full of Spanish beauty with a satisfying build and climax while Eunich Provocateur is the ultimate space out, electronic rock song tthat one could ask for. Check this out if you want 20 minutes of complete bliss.

This short EP was just released by a fellow named Roland Schwarz, he is label mates with swing/jazz/electro/house maestro Parov Stelar (who offers a delightful remix himself). To be honest, Parov Stelar drew me to this EP alone, but I am familiar with Schwarz’s work which combines breakbeat with wonderfully crafted modern jazz pieces. The single carries an eclectic mix of saxaphone, crisp drum beats and pristine key lines, while Stelar’s remix is heavy on the vocal samples and gives you a real refined, classy feel with hand clap clad beats and a winding synth line. Enjoy while relaxing, this is perfect.

Some music is just tailor made for headphones, not shitty headphones, but headphones that can handle the heavy synth bass sounds, the organic electronic tonalities and intricate glitch laden beat tronica. Worm is Green started out as one man manipulating the sounds of two icelandic stones being rubbed together – it’s no suprise then that with their third release entitled Glow we are presented with such an organic, earthly sounding record that also accomodates for dark electronic beats and at times trip hop inspired compositions.

For the most part the vocals are taken on board by the female frontwoman, Icelandic names are hard to spell and pronounce so I will spare both of us the arduous task of naming each member, but I can say that the vocals represent a soft and delicate touch – cold but with a hint of sun – the kind just warm enough to melt the top layer of snow in mid winter. She has been likened to the voice of Bjork but in my opinion her voice doesn’t irritate my ears as the aforementioned tends to do. Coupling these vocals with the music reminds me of early Parov Stelar but without the jazz influence and more of an ambient, minimalistic tone.

Compositionally the album is sound, it’s not the kind of album your going to like immediately, but it is often cited that the best albums always take repeated listens to find their true voice. I immediately dismissed this album while giving it a quick listen, but came back to it with my trusty headphones and they have brought it to life. It is a record that you really have to deconstruct for yourself and experience, I can say that it seems the band combines electronic beats and IDM style breaks with live percussion, and rather than having the beat carry the song the synth lines carry the actual essence of the cancion along with driving, deep, pulsing synth rhythms. Pleasantly some songs roll along without too much variation, lulling you into a false sense of security until the next track gradually intensifies, slowly builds and leaves you flawed by what you’ve just exeperienced.

Overall, a fine effort from the Icelandic group, and th eperfect antidote to the heatwave we are experienceing here in Australia.

Worm is Green

The next few weeks are pretty hectic, I have three exams that I probably should study for so I will make an apology to everyone for not posting very much this month – I will return valiantly with more music and more news for you all.

Much love,

Alex

This album is unashamedly pop, aesthetically pleasing to the ear and kind of glossy. A brilliant mix of indie ethics with jazz precision and you get a real enjoyable listen the whole way through, check it out.

This arrived in the mail today, so I thought I would promote it a little as the album is probably my number one for the year. The vinyl is clear brown which at first was a bit of a turn off for me, who wants a brown vinyl? To my suprise it came out real classy, it is elegant, soft and sincere which is a perfect accompaniment to the music contained on the warm sounding pseudo-americana folk cancions. There is no reason for you to not check this out, read my review of the album HERE