We Saw the Moon: A Starry Night

            This is a review of the EP We Saw the Moon (2013), by Swedish duo Hearts of Black Science, and the tenth review here on Track-By-Track.

            Though almost half-a-year old, this EP was new to me when I heard it recently.  It’s a lot like deservedly well-respected bands meeting equally talented lesser-known bands, musically.  Observer Drift (whose latest album was my first review on this blog) definitely comes to mind, as well as electronic artist Liars, goth staples The Cure, and U2, among others.  The EP is engineered, performed, and written, like a band at the top of their game.  And that’s exactly what they seem to be.
            What really surprised me was the ability that Hearts of Black Science -- the Gothemburg-based duo of Daniel Änghede on vocals and physical instruments, and Tomas Almgren on production/mixing, digital instruments, and more-than-fitting album art -- has of blending goth tones and themes with lighter and more atmospheric genres.  It’s really the combination of Almgren’s and Änghede’s two different perspectives on music that makes We Saw the Moon not only unique, but uniquely enjoyable.  This is a release that lulls and swells with mood and emotion, and mixes a nighttime atmosphere with different takes on that theme.  Great music conveys emotion, and this is a softly-lit warm reminder.
            Get out your candles; here’s my 10th TBT:

            “Winter In Tar Garden” starts the EP, with a decidedly chilly atmosphere.  A pleasantly dark track, with processing all over electronic bass, piano, and a modern drumbeat.  It reminds me of milder songs from the ongoing genre crossover (and continual miscategorization) of black metal and shoegaze, but done properly with wafts of electronic and mildly ambient tones.  There’s enough time to get the atmosphere of the track through instrumental breaks between the sparse vocals, and the vocal-lyrical combination give it a whole other level of mood.  The vocals are processed to perfection (in the alternative-music sense, not the pop-music sense), and great synths are just loud enough to almost totally mask some great guitars.  This obscuration somehow makes the track better than if the guitars were at the forefront, like the generally obscured or low-volume vocals in shoegaze proper.  Synths bring out a dark atmosphere, but in a way that's like a dark Van Gogh, rather than a depressing or unpleasantly dark movie.  It reminds me a bit of Curve's song “Coast is Clear”.

            “College Dreams” comes next, and it’s a definite 80s-style hit.  It’s probably my favourite on the EP, and it has loads of glo-fi with some hints of dream-pop throughout.  Great synths, and vocals with classic lyrics are sung, processed, and harmonized, like a collaboration between U2 and Duran Duran at their best.  It sounds nostalgic, and there’s definitely a chillwave sound to the track.  Drums are in that addictive eq, and guitars are very 80s.  Though on first listen, I wasn’t huge on the mid-range-bandpass-equalized vocal cuts, by the second listen, I was looking forward to them like a long-overdue release from The Postal Service (as if such a thing were ever announced).  It’s heartening that such a happy-sounding track has mildly foreboding lyrics, such as: “For now we’re young and we’ll never die”.

            “Icon” is the 3rd track, and though it starts with a lo-fi electronic goth sound, it quickly becomes an electronica anthem.  This one has the least prominent guitars yet it fits the scheme of the EP by being smack-dab in the middle.  Guitars are mainly underneath loud bass synths and old-school drum samples, and let’s not forget the classic chorus-effected-piano, and choral samples.  The vocals once again are amazing, and emotive without fault or over-production.  There are definitely parts that remind me of The Cure (especially the better tracks of their 4:13 Dream album), and Peter Murphy’s “Cuts You Up”, among other great goth progenitors.

            “Fathoms” is the penultimate track.  Some glitchy drums and tremolo-processed synths are the perfect backing for what sounds like Slowdive meeting The Unforgettable Fire-era U2, and it interestingly becomes a goth glo-fi/chillwave track, which I never thought could ever mix , let alone so well.  The drums are slow, and guitars appear in odd places, as well as providing a great atmosphere for the vocals (in all their modulated and harmonized glory) to drift on.  Bass takes a back-seat, but still remains important in keeping the darker tone of the song.  And somehow, somewhere, a string section (or samples of) make their way into the track, and seamlessly blend with guitar through heavy reverb.

            The title track puts it all in perspective.  Although all the tracks are well-done, this is a major contender for the airspace “College” also deserves.  I must say, I wish I knew where the vocal sample at the beginning comes from, but it escapes me.  The track sounds like both a total acceptance of the night, and darkness itself.  I love anything that captures that true energy and atmosphere of a warm dark starry night, and this delves in and presents the auditory and lyrical equivalent of that feeling of walking in such a night.  It’s a bit like a stripped-down Adore-era Pumpkins song, and retains the positivity of chillwave even through its warm and slightly dark tone.  Guitars set it up, drums drive it on, “1979”-esque synths lift it upwards, bass tethers it to the ground, and vocals bring it home.  And it ends on a perfect note -- literally, like Nine Inch Nails’s “Right Where It Belongs” played by “1979” chorus synths.

            Overall, an amazing atmospheric EP, upbeat and dark in all the right places.  Almgren and Änghede have good reason to be proud of their latest fully-new release (they’ve since released their first volume of B-sides and remixes).  You can stream We Saw the Moon for free at http://heartsofblackscience.bandcamp.com, and purchase CD-quality downloads of their music at that link.  If this EP is any judge, the moon must look pretty great in Gothenburg.

Here There Anywhere Like You: Me Like

            This is a review of the Here There Anywhere Like You EP (2013) by Newglads, and the ninth review here on Track-By-Track.

            This will probably be as close to pop-rock as I get with this blog.  That being said, there are enough alt-rock sounds in Here There Anywhere Like You to fit the style I’m going for with Track-By-Track.  Newglads is an Italian band formed in 2012 by Matteo Fallica (the guitarist and singer) and Christiano Belluzzo (the producer and main songwriter).  Their sound is definitely influenced by Oasis, though there are also some similarities with Radiohead, R.E.M., and Our Lady Peace, in this EP.
            This is an EP to listen to in high-quality, because it’s mastered and mixed so well (audiophile talking here), as well as performed expertly.  The songs are structured more like straight-up rock, but at times, different genres of alt-rock show themselves in the way these classic structures are played.  It’s also completely sung in English, which is interesting for a band not from a mainly English country.  A lot of times, it reminds me of the upbeat songs I grew up listening to, and the lyrical hooks and some of the melodies will stick in the brain like honey on toast.
            Here’s my TBT:

            The EP starts with “All in a Row”, which sounds a bit like like early R.E.M. and Radiohead.  Though it’s not very alternative in the Sonic Youth sense, the style is deceptive.  It’s well-produced and written, and layers of guitar bring that old-school alt-rock dimension to it.  There’s even a slide guitar solo; the solo being a long-forgotten art in modern rock, and begging to be brought back from purely metal circles.  Drums are slightly indie, but eqs make it go beyond the genre.  I must point out that listening to the different layers on this and every track on the EP is amazing at high headphone levels.  I had to resist the urge to crank it up to ear-damaging decibles.

            “Morning Lies” reminds me of a kind of pop-rock, especially the vocals, though the textured guitars again bring layers of alt-influence to the track.  There are obvious Oasis influences on this, but not to a fault.  Fast sharp drums drive the track, and bass plays support well.  Though the vocals are a bit processed-sounding, there are some great harmonies.  The end brings harmony to a climax, and everything mixes well into a slightly nostalgic modernistic ending.

            “Winding Road” comes next, and though the opening guitar is a bit irksome in the beginning, the heavily-delay-effected guitar bits more than make up for it.  The chorus is really well-done, and the vocals and guitars mix well.  The bass is nearly imperceptible (on my headphones), but played well.  I feel like this track could work better with less Oasis, and more of the alt-rock influences some of it clearly displays, though it’s still a good song nonetheless.

            “Stand Till You Fall” is the fourth track.  Once again, definite Oasis influence, especially on the guitars.  Drums and percussion work well in the track, though this might be a case of too much guitar.  I know this sounds like an odd description for part of a rock track, but the amount of guitar tracks at times are kind of like having so many great colours in a painting that the overall picture is detracted from.  Fortunately, good bass, an Oasis-style solo, and some great vocal melodies and hooks make it very enjoyable.

            “Little Dreams” is slower, and has a softer sound.  Hooks galore, like much of the EP, and a great guitar solo drenched in warm reverb.  The harmonies are great, and the guitars really drive the track.  There are some acoustics buried in the track, and great bass and drums.  The lyrics are surprisingly good, and sometimes the harmonies remind me of “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” by R.E.M.

            “Unpredictable” is another Oasis-style track.  The chorus is the best part, with great harmony and softly overdriven guitars.  Bass feels just right in the mix as well.  The drums are perfectly equalized to be both addictive and not overpowering, and the vocals’ processed-sound actually enhances this one.  It’s a bit like Our Lady Peace, especially their Healthy in Paranoid Times album.  This might be the hit on the EP, because although I wasn’t totally sold in the beginning, by the time the second chorus came, I was happily completely immersed in it, and didn’t want it to end.  The levels are perfect, and instruments cut out just at the right times, to make it addictive to the extreme.

            “Whenever It Rains” is the last track on the EP.  Wonderfully, shoegaze starts the track, and this is the most alternative one on Here There Anywhere Like You.  It really sums up the power of rock, especially for fans of Radiohead’s “Blow Out” (like myself).  Lyrics are good, and drums are classic, in the 90s real-drums sense.  The last line “I’m going out in style” is exactly what this mainly shoegaze track does by ending the EP.

            Overall, this is a very enjoyable EP.  Though occasionally a little heavy on the pop-rock, it’s a strong release, and well-produced, performed, and written.  You can get Here There Anywhere Like You, and the most recent songs by Newglads in CD-quality at http://newglads.bandcamp.com, for pay-what-you-want prices.  Get out your Lennon-style glasses; here comes some new masters of melody.

Sound and Vision

Track-By-Track is now in COLOUR (where applicable)!  I decided that the album covers will now be displayed, for the purpose of showing people an image of what I’m reviewing.  If you’re an artist who doesn’t want your album cover on this site, just send me a message or comment, and I’ll have it down within a week.  All album covers remain the property of their respective copyright holders.  I do of course note the irony of this week’s review being of an EP with no colour on the cover.

   Enjoy,

     -Daniel Trainor-Mckinnon, Track-By-Track.

Conjuntos Cartográficos: Paranormal Perfection

            This is a review of Conjuntos Cartográficos (2012) by Matilda Manzana, and the eighth review here on Track-By-Track.  The title means (according to a rough electronic translation) Cartographic Sets, and I’ll use such electronic translations of titles throughout the review in parentheses.

            This is going to be one of the weirdest albums you’ll ever listen to.  It’s like eating food you never thought was palatable before, in a different country, only to realize that it’s actually much better than what everybody likes in your country.  And this is a fine Mexican sonic dish, by Matilda Manzana (Oscar Rodríguez, who describes himself as a producer/disturbed manipulator of sounds, with some additional musicianship).  When I first heard it, there were a few reactions: One of them was confusion; there really isn’t a broad genre that this album can fit into, let alone the hundreds of sub-genres I've heard of.  Rodríguez coins the term "tropigaze" for some of his songs, though there are many styles on the album.
            Think of it as an experiment between Radiohead, The Orb, and Danger Mouse, working with material co-written by Sonic Youth, Brian Eno, and some amazing flamenco groups who also provide samples of their songs to work with.  And that’s not even close to describing the sound.  It’s just the closest I can get.  This is the first time I’ve ever listened to something that made me feel simultaneously uneasy, queasy, amazed, intrigued, and overall in wonder, in the most positive way those could congeal into an atmospheric and tantalizing jelly.
            And that’s the reason I’m doing this review of an album that at the very least is an alternative release.  There are some alt-rock sounds, of course, mostly masked by hyperactive and hyper-artistic beats and tones, but enough for me to consider it not a purely electronic release; the second-last song definitely has shoegaze elements, and most of the album displays some kinds of alt-rock influences.   Well, let’s see if I can even barely describe the sounds I hear.
            Here’s my TBT:

            The album opens with “Ciencias Naturales” (“Natural Sciences”).  Before going on, I must mention that I don’t understand much more than “si” in Spanish, so I can’t really talk about lyrics, especially in this one with loads of them.  It starts off with strange synths, and a heavy yet lighthearted and clean beat.  Strange whistling and hi-freq synths lead into the part with the vocals.  Lead vocals are sung in an uneasy and emotive style, with extremely airy and sensual backing vocals.  There are fast parts and slow parts, but really, it’s beyond recognition to say I know what at least half of this track is.  Maybe some kind of Latin beat?  The melodic elements play off of slight discord to create a really interesting atmosphere.

            “Pez Espada” (“Swordfish”) has great nylon-string samples, and the lyrics seem to be a sentance repeated over and over.  I feel transported into a Mayan world, even through kazoos and a clean hardcore-edm-style bass kick create even stranger sounds to be enveloped by.  Vocals are very emotive, and it creates a kind of pleasantly-haunted-outdoors-nighttime environment.  Really, listen to it to figure out what comes to your mind, and tell me.

            “Té De Lluvia” (“Tea Rain”) (featuring Fonobisa), is the third track, and this is where even more confusion and wonder sets in.  What sound like either guitar or ukelele loops are swirling in a near-Samba beat; vocals are nearly scared-sounding; and some amazing manipulation of sound makes the track a bit like The Boredoms.  Reverb, major dissonance, and a sound that sticks in the brain like peanut-butter in the mouth.  In a good way.

            “Prismas” (“Prisms”) comes next, and it seems to be about thanking the cosmos.  It’s very positive-sounding, and then comes the temporary break in style half-way through.  Most of the time, there are raindrops of different tones and sounds, and perfectly equalized vocals, but when most of the sounds cut out, there’s a nice bongo and guitar moment that reminds you that you are, in fact, still listening to music and not just the coolest noise that drifts in and out of melody.  Even the end of this track is almost an entirely different song, which is a good way of describing the album: A collection of songs within songs, each part of each one so different that it’s almost inconceivable that anyone was able to find any of them, let alone mix them together.

            “Marula” ("Nipple") is the fifth track, and it’s a bit like second-generation console video-game music.  That is, performed by Air and Sia.  It’s instrumental, though so paradoxically complex yet simple in construction, that it gives a new value to instrumental tracks.  This is called raising the bar for alternative artists to create instrumental tracks that stand on their own without lyrics.

            The title track comes next, and be prepared for more beautiful dissonance.  By this point, the album has transformed the senses into its own world, with soft shoegaze guitars low in the mix, frantic vocals, and a strong electronic beat, and syncopated and conflicting beats and sounds all competing in a chaotic and wonderful amalgamation of music.  This is, I suppose, a kind of alternative rock, because there is some focus on guitar, but it, like everything else on Conjuntos Cartográficos, is unclassifiable, at least by me.  Just keep your ears open for the pastiche of sounds at the end: I won’t explain it away.

            “Aránda” (“Huckleberries”) (featuring Crocat), is a mainly electronic track.  It’s a bit hip-hop, a bit downtempo, and a bit psychedelic.  It has some dreamy vocals, covered in soft reverb, and some guitar on occasion.  Loads of odd noises turned into beats, and some Rhodes organ sounds.

            “Himnos Estudiantiles” (“Student Anthems”) (featuring Installed), starts off with a dark and pretty lo-fi sound, and then the mood is quickly interupped by what sounds like a party of music.  Very Latin, with electronic and acoustic sounds.  The end pleasantly surprised me, with its brief lo-fi folkiness.

            “Debemos Despertar” (“We Must Awaken”), the ninth song, sounds like a love song.  It’s so melodic after the rest of the album, and though the vocals go off-tune for the sake of capturing the emotion of the moment, it’s not a sacrifice in vain.  It’s the calm after the storm, and the chorus is the icing on the cake.  Guitar and bass are wonderfully warm, with soft glancing synths, and a nearly decimated drumbeat.  Just the right levels on everything, and sometimes the vocals really get to me, even though I only think I understand a word of them -- “Gorgeous” being both what I think the word is, and an apt description of the song.

            “Belmopán” (the capitol city of Belize) is a shoegaze song, like somewhere between Slowdive’s Souvlaki and Pygmalion albums.  It doesn’t start out immediately, but vocals and guitar drenched in reverb take over soon enough, and give it an otherworldly sound like looking at multicoloured clouds being reflected in water.  Songs like this are reasons music gourmets never have to do drugs.  It feels a little long before the fast part, but when it speeds up, the sound is all-encompassing.

            “Ciencias Paranormales” (“Paranormal Science”) has oceans of reverb and incredibly soft shoegaze-style guitars.  This one has vocals that sound like they’re through a megaphone, in the beginning.  It’s an alternate version of the first track (or perhaps a continuation), and sounds like a journey through the otherworldly; much like the whole album.  It’s warm and atmospheric, with soft nylon-string guitars, some super-processed piano, and a slower pace as compared to most of Conjuntos Cartográficos.  The end brings some electroacoustic noises to the table for a perfect ending, and even the last note is right in place.

            Overall, Matilda Manzana has created a masterpiece; something that both defies explanation, and encourages it.  After hearing Conjuntos Cartográficos, I’ll never look at music the same way again, and knowing that in some tracks even shoegaze can mix with Latin beats, it’s opened up a new world of exploration for alternative rock as well.  You can stream and download the album (and more) in better-than-CD-quality for pay-what-you-want prices at: http://matildamanzana.bandcamp.com.  Play it in the bath, at outdoor late-night candle-light ghost-parties, or when your face is off your skull, like the album cover.

Blue Haze: Psych-Gaze

            This is a review of the EP Blue Haze (2012) by Wild Eyes, and the seventh review on this blog.

            Instead of talking about how I found yet another amazing band, I'll talk about its sound.  Fans of My Bloody Valentine and psych-rock alike will likely find common ground in enjoying this EP.  It has loads of reverb, but also general alt-rock influences, and melodies to die for.
            This is an inspiring EP, and deserving of mention, despite its barely 14 minute length spread over 4 songs.  Wild Eyes is an LA-based shoegaze band, but their sound doesn’t feel Hollywood-ized (overly pop-ish), with drone vocals and a sound in between a happy kind of more-structured goth-rock, and psychedelic-shoegaze.
            Here’s my TBT:

            “Blue Haze” starts the EP.  The opening is great, and the track carries its shoegaze soul to the max.  I think I hear some resonators in there, though it might just be amazing guitar eq.  Vocals are slightly psych-rock, but they don’t betray the track’s shoegaze roots.  Drums nearly blast the track into a new century, without seeming too fast or high in the mix.  It's probably my favorite track on the EP.

            “Ride” brings together feedback, an energetic (and heavily compressed) drumbeat, soft drone vocals, and great bass and guitar collaboration, and puts them right in the reverb chamber.  It has a certain kind of psychedelia about it, which is a good example of the EP's psychedelic influence or direction.  When feedback is used properly, like in this song, it sounds mind-altering.

            “When It’s Over” is the pop song, if the rest of the album were straight up rock.  MBV-style glide-guitar solos gently raise the chorus’s drone-vox to ecstasy, and the cymbals are just in that perfect frequency (pitch and tempo) zone for addictiveness.  It reminds me of parts of Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii movie, especially when the lead guitar's single-tone glide-guitar delves into an even deeper atmosphere than the other tracks.

            “Summer” is more indie, and the guitar and vocal eqs shoot down to near-mid-range bandpasses.  Not a lot of high-freq stuff, except the once-again addictive hi-hat.  I wouldn’t have ended on this one, because the other tracks are more complex, both melodically and equalization-wise.  I’m not against indie, but when it comes to shoegaze, it rarely mixes perfectly for my tastes, though it's still worthwhile listening to this song.

            Overall, the EP is a strong psych-shoegaze work, and Wild Eyes is releasing new material later in the month, which, given the consistency of Blue Haze, should be great. You can stream Blue Haze EP for free at http://wildeyestheband.bandcamp.com, and purchase a CD-quality download of it at the same link.