Qwel and Meaty Ogre are an mc and producer duo. The tracks sound a lot like another independent rapper, MC Homeless, and on “Freezerburner” interesting backing beats work well with the flow that are laid down. The instrumentation that take place during songs like “ID Glue” are Spartan but do their job perfectly; they give the flow a proper canvas to paint on. Qwel and Meaty Ogre are intelligent as…
I believe that I was in one of the best positions to review this disc, as I had never even heard of Quasi before I was sent this disc. The CD starts off with “Hot Shit”, bubbling with oddly-constructed guitar lines and the double-harmony of Janet and Sam .Short in duration, it proceeds as a bizarro-opening to the disc : the continual “Goodbyes” framed in a hopeful voice causes confusion…
Having shed two members since their last release, Boston indie band Aloud is down to a duo, but don’t assume that means a sparse sound. Far from it. Down to members Jennifer de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain, both who share vocal and guitar duties (and occasionally pick up the bass or play piano or glockenspiel), the band turns in their strongest effort yet with Exile, their third release. Put…
The front cover of this disc does not give individuals much an idea what Quartet of Happiness will play. Individuals may get an idea if they look at the back, as there is a crude cartoon with two members playing brass, an upright bass, and a drummer. However, even that will not give individuals the best idea of what Quartet of Happiness ultimately sounds like. After putting the disc on,…
Nu-metal ties itself in with the more-hardcore emo and a myriad of different genres to provide QuarterLife Crisis with their motivation. With an ear for melody and a mind for the greatest possible impact, QLC places “What You Will” with its catchy choruses as the first track, and places the Strike Anywhere/A Wilhelm Scream-like track with fierce vocals and tribal drums, right after. Morphing in quickly with the end of…
The recording on this demo is a little rough, but when it is compared to the average recording from Greencastle, it is actually fairly professional. For those who don’t know, Pvrenchymv is a progressive-rock band that is incredibly hard to pigeonhole. The first track, “Une” has a myriad of influences pushing through all facets of the track: Korn, Dream Theatre, even Creed all come through. The distortion on the guitars…
The Purrs occupy an interesting spot in popular music. First off, their opening track to this album is “She’s Gone”, and the song is odd for the fact that the added vocals sound quite like girl groups from the early sixties, while the rest of the song sound like something that The Doors would cut to vinyl. The result is something odd and completely different from the rest of music…
I should have realized that Public Access was going to have some semblance of ska in their general formula after seeing that there were two saxophonists in the band, but I expected something different given the Thought Riot meets Strike Anywhere vocals of the band to start off “Hit Single”. The ska breakdowns are interesting to say the least, and tremendous kudos needs to be given to Public Access in…
”Robot Crazy” is a good start for “First Human Beings”, as it establishes The Psycho Nubs as fans of Fugazi, Husker Du, and The Pixies. The driving beat of the track has punk influences, but is something that is much more moderated than most of the punk acts out on the market. After this quick introduction, something quicker hits listeners during “Promenade”. This track is something that follows all the…
We receive a number of different reissues at NeuFutur. Many of them deal with the ephemera (pictures, lost tracks, live performers) from a particular era in the musician’s life. However, Audio Fidelity’s release of this slept-on Wonder classic has no additional tracks or other aural (or visual) goo-gahs. Rather, what the company has done here has provided listeners with the most clear and crisp recording of a Wonder album that…
“Lyon” starts off with The Psychic Paramount really taking individuals into a very industrial type of vein. In essence, the track sounds as if someone is rewinding a tape, as everything has a back-masked type of quality that really operates nicely in terms of opening up this disc. From the onset, “Paris pt. One” has a much more rock-based feel to it. Everything is blanketed with a heavy degree of…
The clarity in which Provoked start out their “Night of the Livid Punks” really seems to show a different sound than was present in their “Infant in the Womb of Warfare”. New vocalist Kerri has a different sound to eir vocals that really seem sedate in wake of Scaba’s work, which are bolstered well when a second or third vocalist joins in . In fact, the stylistic change in regards…
The clarity in which Provoked start out their “Night of the Livid Punks” really seems to show a different sound than was present in their “Infant in the Womb of Warfare”. New vocalist Kerri has a different sound to eir vocals that really seem sedate in wake of Scaba’s work, which are bolstered well when a second or third vocalist joins in . In fact, the stylistic change in regards…
I honestly thought that this disc was skipping when the drum line to “Dead Hopes” started out. This drum line (laid down by Joey) is the equivalent to those jokes on shows like the Family Guy that move beyond the comfort level of the Aristophanesian-influenced “trio” jokes (something is funny when it happens to an individual three times). The humor in Family Guy’s jokes (and why exactly Joey’s drum line…
Underground rap is always really hit or miss, and Proverb’s self-titled single, “Proverbs” exemplifies that to a t. With a loud synth line struggling to overtake Proverb’s flow. In fact, Proverb seems a little compressed in eir music, with the lush synth choking eir slowly. The hook is found on the earliest seconds of the disc and really amounts to a premature ejaculation on the tack. While Proverb tries to…
The back and forth of Propagandhi during “A Speculative Fiction” really shows a maturation of two distinct styles of music; an emotive type of rock and the straight-forward type of rock. These styles are deftly maneuvered into a cohesive sound by Glen’s voice, and “A Speculative Fiction” is a track that has a classic, Bad Religion type of sound while still showing some of the metal/punk fusion that catapulted Sum41…
Different blips forcing their way from the periphery to the mainline of things, The Prodigy are back with their “Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned”. The global flow of “Spitfire” comes through with the middle-Eastern sound of the female backing vocals, and the male presence in the track is reminiscent of Zach from Rage Against The Machine. Continuing the same general sound that as found in “Spitfire”, “Girls” doesn’t honestly contribute much…
Sam Sneed may just be one of the forces in rap music that has been slept on over the course of the last few decades. On “Street Scholars”, Sneed looks to come out from behind the curtain. Despite bringing out the big guns on “U Better Recognize”, Sneed’s goal with “Street Scholars” is to give some up and coming rappers, R&B artists, and other musicians a chance to shine. What…
Primal Scream always surprises me. When I last heard them, they were doing an electronic type of thing (and I think that was about 2000). This time, the band has gotten onto the retro rock bandwagon and ion “Country Girl”, have made a track that even The Rolling Stones would be proud of. This retro style presents itself again during “Nitty Gritty”, and Primal Scream seems to revel in this…
Spike has a definite nineties sound to start out “There’s No Sound In Flutes”. However, the disc starts off with “I Know Everything”, a track that has the arrangements struggling against the vocals for dominance. The instrumental interlude during the track is also something that seems out of lplace during the track, especially when Priggen’s vocals are so full of humanity where the interlude sounds forced or downright cold. Either…