Author: General Ray

[listen] GORILLAZ: “Aries” ft Peter Hook & Georgia

*waves hands enthusiastically*

Peter Hook bringing fantastic psychedelic synths, that classic New Order-esque bass line and  head bobbing percussion (hear those clickety-clicks?) to 2D’s more-than-usual, done-with-life vocals.

Damon Albarn, in his new series of musical collaborations in Sound Machine, ventures back in time, recreating Plastic Beach glory days of hailed Gorillaz sound. Is this Albarn’s way of joining in the 80s Nostalgia craze sweeping music and film today? Think Dua Lipa’s 80s pop album, Wonder Woman’s own New Order soundtrack, Stranger Things…

Though it is easy to dismiss the track as another attempt catering to nostalgia sheep (including myself), there’s something so likable about it that seems to separate itself from the rose-colored glasses that is nostalgia illusion. Perhaps its the contrast of the vocals with the synth backing or the framing and lyrics; it doesn’t listen as 80s New Wave re-packaged but more as re-interpreted. Give it a listen and stay tuned for more Gorillaz up to the end of the year.

~

This blog has been a clear fan of Synthpop and by extension, New Wave and therefore inevitably Peter Hook’s work in New Order. The band is credited to have been the first to make rock music for a dance crowd (or dance music for a rock crowd), uniting the two genres in a crowd-crazed, titillating synth and guitar vortex-inducing discography. More on New Order and Damon Albarn’s ouevre soon.

 

[Listen] TOOL: “Fear Inoculum” NEW SINGLE! (Part 2)

What follows was initially intended to PRECEDE my final statements (being, as they are, “final”), but was moved later since it’s stupidly long-winded.

Now what exactly this IS is a heavily-edited and approximately 60% authentic transcript of my initial reactions to hearing Tool’s HIGHLY anticipated single, the title track off their HIGHLY anticipated upcoming album, “Fear Inoculum”.

Tool - Fear Inoculum.png

 

OK this is it, this is it. Thirteen years of studio-silence, and this is what we’ve been waiting for.

“Fear Inoculum”. “Inoculum”? Like the little speck of bacteria that you incubate overnight for larger cultures?

So like… a little speck of fear that thrives and festers to make a whole lot of fear?

That can’t be right.

A break to enlist the aid of the all-knowing G’o-ogle.

OK almost right. It’s a little dose of fear. Just an inoculum’s worth. For whatever purpose. Infection, immunity, shits and giggles.

Alright, now we know what we’re dealing with.

And… play.

[00.00]: Industrial… metallic noise ascending in pitch, OK. I don’t hate it. And some kinda thick undulating BROAAWWM that bounces between the same three notes. And both your ears. LOVE that.

And oh what’s that DO MINE EARS DECEIVE ME?

CAN THAT TRULY BE THE EXOTIC SOUNDS OF THE SOUTH ASIAN DRUM, THE TABLA, ACCOMPANYING NOTES OF VAGUELY EASTERN MODES PLUCKED ON THE VAGUELY ZITHERY-SOUNDING STRINGS OF AN INSTRUMENT OF VAGUELY ASIAN ORIGIN?

NOW WE HAVEN’T SEEN THAT VERY MUCH IN THE METAL GENRE NOPE NOT VERY MUCH AT ALL IN THE LAST SIXTY YEARS.

I’m not complaining though (because it did very much seem like I was complaining, didn’t it, what with the caps and such), it’s got some serious “Planet Caravan” vibes.

[01.20]: OK those vibes lasted all of twenty seconds we’ve moved on oh look ooh the guitar BROAAWM’s getting MEANER. I like this. And DRUMSSSS the real ones now by which I mean those of the western kind. Bringing the PolyrhythmsTM. Now it’s a TOOL song.

[01.41]: Whoops and there I’ve just tripped over the plodding bassline, playing all those jaggedy accent notes on the off-beats. How could I forget good old Justin? Edit: NOW it’s a Tool song.

[2.01]: Oh, hello Maynard. Aw the BROAWM only comes back when he’s not singing. It’s my favorite part so far.

NOT listening to the lyrics. Because FUCK that.

Tool Rule of Thumb:

Tool of Thumb: All any Tool song is ever trying to tell you is FUCK you or if not that then FUCK The Man and if not that then FUCK society and if not that then FUCK you all over again but now on like a psychological level, couched in a broader lament on the loathsome, irrational and undeniable sinfulness inherent in the human condition (or something), like real Christian shit – WHOA stop the presses TOOL IS A CHRISTIAN BAND.

[2.42]: Oooh the BROAWM’s found itself a little riff. A GOOD one. Goes well with the drums and bass. Damn it’s like these guys are kickass musicians or something. Man I hope they don’t tease me with this sweet sonic synergy for just these thirty seconds and abandon it for the rest of the song.

[3.14]: Oh wait no that’s their MO. Now Maynard’s whisper-yelling at me. I don’t like it. “Immunity”? No just. Gimme that wave of guitars again.

[3.34]: Oooh building BUILDING. We’re BUILDING NOW. On a MODIFIED RIFF yup the old one is shot dead and never coming back aaaaaaand the new one’s gone too. We’re doing this other marginally different one now and Maynard’s gonna do his warbling-with-reverb thing over it. Ooh aah energetic drum fills and heavy power-chords. Very metal so MET-AL.

[4.21]: Oop and we’ve gone quiet. Only got our “unconventional” drums going now. Not gonna lie the culmination of that build was a bit underwhelming. But hey, perhaps that was just a local maximum. And the global is yet to come. Because if these guys make a song with (THE AUDACITY TO HAVE) lyrics like “enumerate” and “mitosis”, how could one (HAVE THE AUDACITY TO EVEN CONCEIVE OF ATTEMPTING TO) describe it without dipping into pre-calc lexicon?

[4.39]: The guitar’s gone back to the same three-note wave, ground zero, and now I’m kinda getting sick of it. Maynard’s singing… along it somewhat. Never straying too far, melodically¸ and thank God because his trajectory seems totally random.

Revisiting and revising the BROAAWM again. Another fun progression yes why not let’s go again it’s a fun ride, right?

[5.36]: Let it be noted that at this timestamp, he said the word “allegorical”. OooOOOoooh.

[5.51]: NEW RIFF WITH LOTTA DISTORTION. IT’S JUST OK FOR RN BUT I’M EXCITED TO SEE WHERE IT GOES.

I’m yelling, see, because it’s LOUD.

Some good percussion and one-note-per-bar bass notes really helping to hype this bridge.

Oh there’s Maynard again. And of course everything else gets totally muted once he comes along. Guitar’s all clean now, but playing the same riff you know what THAT MEANS it means we’re building again oh so much tension ooh I FEEEL it.

[7.03]: Some power chords mmkay I’m liking this. Drums getting harder. Really letting you know they’re there. Some staccato chugga-chuggas on the guitars, I can get behind that.

[7.36]: When will I learn? It all built up to Maynard’s chanting. What’s that you ask? Why yes, we DID just do this FOUR MINUTES ago. But it’s OK because now the guitar’s back! Playing its shiny new riff for all of us!

[8.43]: The drums and the guitar are engaged in a serious debate about where the song should go next, and I must confess, I’m invested. Where will they go now that they’re back where they’ve started? And for the third time, no less??

Oh, that’s right, nowhere. The drums are just kinda hitting a lot of uniform beats and the guitar’s lingering on the same note for uncomfortably long.

Alright all it’s built to is a ruthless assault on my skull. Nothing’s changing except the INCREASING VOLUME. More of the same monotonous rhythm and for some reason really REALLY amped guitar and bass playing the same goddamn notes AND ARE YOU KIDDING ME THE SONG’S OVER.

 

 

#tool2019 or some shit.

– Mans

[Listen] TOOL: “Fear Inoculum” NEW SINGLE! (Part 1)

HOLY FUCK IT’S A NEW SONG

RECORDED IN A STUDIO AND EVERYTHING

THEY SAID THIS DAY WOULD NEVER COME

Tool - Fear Inoculum.png

Now because thirteen years is a long time for fans to build up some pesky EXPECTATIONS and for bands to accumulate some pesky  STYLISTIC CHANGES and all, I wanna give my two cents on how I think this whole album is gonna go down in terms of fan response:

Nothing can kill the hype that these guys/the fans have built over the last few years. Especially not with a song like this, so true to their original style, hitting all the right idiosyncratic notes. And for what it’s worth, I did, upon hearing it, pre-order the album. Y’know. For the culture.

 

Now here’s my two cents on the song itself.

It’s the same old Tool we all knew and loved. Same moving parts, same vacillation between winding along moody minimalist development passages, and dwelling in warm, thick-textured, pleasantly repetitive but short-lived riffs. The same bassline that grumbles agitatedly along beneath the rest for most of the song, rearing its head only during the (several) climactic swells. The same tarantismic correspondence between the drums and the guitars, the whole (magnificently seamless) machine scuttling fluidly and beautifully on its belly like a mutated arthropod, a wet, jet-black abomination of twisted limbs and translucent flesh. Maynard still the star of the show, multiplied for ethereal effect by accordion-folded vocal tracks. Running through all the same old tricks: wailing, whining, grunting, growling, just as well as he’d done on records long past and has continued to do in innumerable live shows since.

Bottom line: A great song, really, if only we hadn’t seen it so many times before. AND the song could have been like a third of the length and still felt complete as a composition. It builds well, as their songs always do. But we just climbed the same goddamn hill like six times. ALSO, unfortunately, Maynard’s vocals were easily the weakest part of the song. Sapping whatever energy the instrumentals summoned over all those minutes, and generally, melodically, sticking out like a sore thumb. Like if someone took that insect-monster that the perfect Tool song seeks to emulate and tried to jab a wooden chopstick into it and call it another leg.

 

Bottommost line: just go listen to “Rosetta Stoned”. You’ll have an almost identical but marginally better time.

 

In-depth analysis of the lyrics coming never.

-Mans

[Listen] GANG OF YOUTHS: “What Can I Do if the Fire Goes Out?”

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“Do I throw my clothes in the fire? Do I throw my hopes in the fire?”

At breakneck speed, Gang of Youths pummels your eardrums with an energetic, heart-thumping track. The band aggressively prods you to question existence, question reality and question hope with almost 150 bpm (beats-per-minute), only a hair-breath away from cardiovascular arrest.

Yet magically, the track pulses with moments of immense clarity and peace: the rapidly strumming guitars are transformed by slow and languid strokes with the pace  dropping to a steady pulse of 70bpm with your heart. And then as suddenly as it began, the track continues to battle on breathlessly until the next moment of respite.

Think of Nothing But Thieves, Explosions in the Sky, such spectacular alt-rock that creates feeling and movement in spite of your headbanging.

(yes this song released 2 years ago, and yes alt-rock is something new on this blog. But after Gang of Youth’s performance at Boston Calling this summer it was hard to resist posting. Alt-rock is perhaps an older love of mine than synth-pop, but a love nonetheless)

[Listen] JOHNNY UTAH: “Honeypie”

Image result for johnny utah artist

HONEY            ~!~

                                          HONEY            ~!~

HONEY       ~!~

                                                           PIE!

This song needs to be longer. Jamming in an fantastic falsetto, Johnny Utah coaxes, no coerces you into full body wiggles and head-bobbing for a full 2:26 seconds. The track is defined by sly, tongue-in-cheek and teasing lyrics matched with a snappy guitar riff, a new addition to the infamous ‘bedroom-pop’ genre dominating spotify and apple streaming services for most of 2019. Though lo-fi at heart, the sharp and snazzy production gives you an earworm for the ages.

Music like this, completely independently produced by artists who’ve never lived in a world without the internet, is a 2019 symptom of the decades-old changing climate of the industry. Now YOU can produce music DIY, and even if your production skills aren’t up to scratch and your bedroom soundproofing is somewhat problematic, any imperfection can contribute to an aesthetic choice.

An aesthetic, one of dreamy anachronism (due to your outdated or  vintage equipment adding ‘analogue warmth’) with streaks of quirk and authenticity… a complete contrast to the over-produced and chrome-finished pop tracks dominating the charts. It’s  an empowering production process and therefore an empowering listen.

Johnny Utah who was a regular guy with a regular bedroom but with 50 Mbps of internet speed, is now a musician with a substantial following, susceptible to the likes of Tik Tok. Garnering followers with his viral tweets, his internet personality of fun and antics is as much a part of his music.

Listen here:

An interview with Johnny Utah here:

http://www.papermag.com/johnny-utah-2620751965.html?rebelltitem=20#rebelltitem20

Read more about Bedroom Pop here:

https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/2018/04/bedroom-pop-diy-artists/