Thursday, August 29, 2013

The Gembrokers & Break Of Reality

The Gembrokers


The Gembrokers are an acoustic trio from Santa Cruz, California. Their second album, Bury The Sound is a remarkably textured release that spans many variants of folk styled music. Heartfelt, honest, and uncompromising songwriting makes this piece stand out during a time in music where so much is mired in uncertainty and change; this group takes a step back instead and presents something fresh regardless.


The Demon brings the listener into a darkening swamp at dusk and leaves them there. Effortlessly exceptional musicianship and harmonic balance ebbs and flows, drifting along only allowing the listener to catch but a glimpse of some figure watching from distance through a misty tree-scape. The title track Bury The Sound, has perhaps the most interesting combination of styles and techniques. This song opens with a piano and vocal narrative which transitions into a passage that hearkens simpler times, with traditional European influences. To The Sea is a raw vocal and piano oriented ballad. Powerful and soulful, this track emphasizes hopefulness at the end of one long journey while facing the start of another.



Featuring complex vocal harmonies and a seamless integration of multiple instruments, Bury The Sound is an excellent example of less can certainly be more if one adequately utilizes one’s resources. A lack of percussion stands out while not feeling at all missed, as often times the percussive nature of The Gembrokers rhythms adds a layer of dimension through this minimalism.

Break of Reality

Rochester, New York founded Break of Reality, has made three releases with extensive touring in support of these albums. Spectrum of the Sky, released in 2009, is an amalgamation of classic technique and modern rhythmic styling. With this release, Break of Reality may alter one's previous conceptions of what can be done with a four piece band and classical instruments.



The Farewell sets a dramatic atmosphere with choppy cello bowing, intricate violin narratives, and a percussive emphasis. With hints of Western European influence, The Farewell conveys the occurrence of an important event that has been a long time coming.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Entropia, MIKTEK, & Limalo

Entropia



The Oleśnica, Poland, based band Entropia presents the title track from their debut, Vesper. This song joins together several elements of modern metal music, bringing the listener through elegant and darkened passages. Mournful and soulful, Vesper reminds of a moonlit funeral held for those whom have passed tragically far to early in life.

MIKTEK


Electronic based MIKTEK, from Mytilene, Greece, brings the track Elephants. The featured track from [ Elsewhere ], Elephants is a relaxing song, latent with mysterious and rhythmic subliminal ambiance. A sterile tone and beat takes prominence drawing the listeners attention to the underlying static of voices and calming piano melody.

Limalo


Magic Lantern is a new track by Dallas-Fort Worth Texas’ own Limalo, featured on the album, Human Bloom. Provoking a vision of flames flickering in the breeze on a warm summer’s night; swaying gently back and forth, entangling the listener in déjà vu. Hopefully reminding of better times, sending the listener into a dreamland where sleepy melodies sweep them away and hold them tight.

Friday, August 16, 2013

eleven tigers & zYnthetic

eleven tigers


Eleven tigers is an electronic based music project from London, UK. The most recent release by this solo act slash collective project is the astonishing full length release entitled, 111. With this album, eleven tigers have created one of the more nuanced pieces of music in recent memory, composing a piece that is simply best described as real.


Immersed in the subliminal, 111 speaks an ancient tongue of a higher intelligence. Constant and fast moving evolution becomes apparent early on as the opening track, Clouds, rapidly builds with an almost aquatic funeral ambiance morphing into near indescribable complex percussion and synthetic noise oriented dance beats.  The third track, Night begins where the previous track ends, transitioning into a soft and melodic noodling of various instruments. Quickly this section drifts into a poetic vocal narrative followed by a mystifying lullaby of atmosphere escalating again into a continually transforming dance-like groove. The track Play presents perhaps the most cerebral music in eleven tigers' arsenal, beginning with another enigmatic transition of composition from the previous track into itself. Play develops in a way that brings chills to the listener; with its masterfully coalesced arrangements, beckoning to pretend with a dreamy whisper.


Eleven tiger communicates with the listener about life in 111, telling them about the interconnectedness of all things, showing them that they are as much a part of the music as the music is a part of them. With that, 111 transcends music into true spirituality.
zYnthetic


SOUNDTRACK FOR THE APOCALYPSE is a full length album by the electronic based, zYnthetic. From Atlanta, Georgia, zYnthetic delivers on this releases name sake, fashioning music from a futuristic war torn landscape. Packing tons of raw power and dark finesse, SOUNDTRACK FOR THE APOCALYPSE keeps the listener thoroughly engaged from start to finish.


The album opens powerfully with a guitar tone and groove pacing on Abandon v3 that alternates in prominence from track to track, for the most part, with textural, electronically infused, post apocalyptic atmospheres. Abandon v3 is a hard hitting, in your face, quick moving track that sets a very clear precedence and cadence for the rest of SOUNDTRACK FOR THE APOCALYPSE. Bled Dry is an intense sprint, running away without looking back as mutagenetic foe pursues in a feverish haste; frantically ducking, dodging, and weaving through narrow corridors in avoidance of this hostile adversary. Intricately synchronized percussion and synthesis constructs a hostile rhythm, provoking the listener with the apprehension of being swarmed in upon. Forceful beat and skillfully manufactured rhythm develop rapidly in Defection, as this track implements a speedy and detailed composition. Defection melds ambiance, melody, and rhythm, succinctly emphasizing the listener’s blackened sonic surroundings.



Throughout the entire album, zYnthetic delivers strong visualizations for the listener, through dynamic instrumentation. Stimulating imagery of a dilapidated city torn asunder by a ravenous virus, provoking emotions of resilience, hopelessness, and sorrow; along with the sensation of constantly being sought after.

Monday, August 12, 2013

LayerZ

LayerZ



LayerZ is a three piece composed of talented multi-instrumentalist hailing from Tel Aviv, Israel. Their second album and first full length production, Memory Towers, is a psychedelic fusion combining a variety of styles in an exceptionally precise manner. All three members of LayerZ are trained jazz musicians, choosing to stick to their roots but create a sound that is very complex and new age. Using modern and new concepts for vocals, they present an interestingly strong futuristic feel.


In the title track, Memory Towers, you are enveloped by a synthetic, organ-like, and hypnotic ballad playing to the memories that its trying to provoke of its listener. This track is driven forward into a vivid fantasy land by a strong and pulsating jazz inspired bass line. Robotic sounding, rhythmically spoken vocals impress the listener hauntingly. LayerZ adds another of their name sake, layer, by having a another guest vocalist for Goodbye, guest musicians being a common theme for this album. In Goodbye we are greeted by the beautiful vocal styling of Marina Maximillion Karni, which is soon followed up again by a rhythmic and forward moving musical composition. This track emphasizing vocals when previous songs used vocalizations in a more supportive way. The way LayerZ chooses to arrange their instruments and vocals creates beautiful dimension and depth. Going in yet another direction, the track Cycles starts strong by featuring the contemplative and saddened vocalizations of the three core members of the group and guest vocalist Benjamin Bouskila. This song falls into a snare driven tribal sound, with lyrics that bring into question some of the greater mysteries of life. Furthermore, Cycles escalates into a palpitating dance beat, with inspirations from modern electronic music, dropping back into soothing yet melancholic fallout.



LayerZ' song structures are similar to how they develop their general sound, continually changing and developing, moving onward as everything is formed and reformed. LayerZ shows us their intelligence, by exquisitely going from instrumental sections to using vocals with varying techniques. This illustrates the strength of their superb musicianship, often using their instruments to sing in the absence of a vocalist.