Free Music.
Every Monday!
Got that? Good.
Let's begin.
Anup Sastry – Titan
The world of one-man Djent projects tend to fall into certain patterns. In the minority you have the unfairly talented people who are able to play every instrument they need with more skill than most of us can dream to play one. Damn you Ben Sharp, Damn you. For mere mortals however, machine aid must be sought. Often you’ll find that an artist will track guitars and bass and shove Superior Drummer 2 in the mix for their percussive requirements. The drummer for Skyharbor, Intervals and Jeff Loomis, Anup Sastry, however, has done things in reverse. The only real instrument on this impressively meaty Djent album, are the drums, but it’s very hard to tell.
Call it a criticism of the oft over-produced nature of Djent
if you will, but even without such loaded opinions to back it up, this is one
hell of a release. Despite being a drummer at heart it seems that Anup has the
art of melody writing pretty well covered. This album djents in all the right
ways and in all the right places. In reality it is perhaps not that surprising
that this album is as solid as it is. Good Djent, in my opinion, requires two
things; a good sense of groove and rhythm and a strong ear for melody, both of which are present here. As the rhythmic
power house behind many a progressive band as well as for two bands that both
appeared on our best of 2014 list, I wouldn't be surprised if some of
that Melody work has rubbed off on him. If nothing else, this is worth a listen
just to see how that programmed guitars sound.
(Spoiler: Better than you’d expect.)
Nicholas Nicholas – Wrong
Brooklyn project Nicholas Nicholas’ brand of Shoegazey Dream Pop is somehow both nostalgic and comforting whilst still feeling new and interesting. Wrong feels like a distant memory, something from your childhood half forgotten. The production is unashamedly inspired by the 80’s. Old school synths, guitar and drum tones that wouldn’t feel out of place on a The Cure record and, perhaps unsurprisingly for a Shoegaze record, reverb and delay on basically everything. While it is influenced by this 30 year old sound however, it retains a sense of modernity that prevents Wrong from simply becoming another throw back release.
The ambience of this album may best be described by a faded
photograph, perhaps a photo of yourself when you were very young. There’s
nostalgia, sadness of things passed, but it’s warm; bittersweet perhaps being the
best word to use, but the album, despite its title, refuses to become
completely morose.
The guitars drone ethereally as you expect and the melodies both
from the guitar and mouth are hauntingly delayed to the point of incomprehensibility.
It is all very Shoegaze, very solid, but nothing unexpected. I don’t see the album
causing any hardcore fan of Shoegaze proclaiming this to be the future of the genre and all that came before it are now irrelevant. But it certainly is a great
example of the genre and well worth a listen.
Elizabeth Veldon – Music For The Solstice
As today marks celebrations for the Winter Solstice over on the Salisbury Plains, it seems apt to include an album released just for the occasion. Glaswegian Experimental Noise Aritst (as if there’s a non-Experimental Noise Artist) released Music For The Solstice on December 21st, which the actual date of the Solstice according to Google.
Citing John Cage as a major influence, it is unsurprising
that much of this album is quiet to the point of silence. This is not an album
to have on in the background, as I made the mistake of doing on a first listen. This is an abstraction of ideas and is something that should be paid attention
to. Music For The Solstice represents
what the event means to Elizabeth Veldon,
realised in processed sine waves. It may not make sense to anyone else, but that’s
okay. Music is a very personal expression and that is what I believe this to be, pure personal expression.
It is perhaps not something you would listen to over and over, but on this, the
darkest night of the year, it might be worth sitting alone with your headphones
for half an hour and reflecting.this is music for the solstice, designed for headphones.
listen in the dark, wrapped in sound.
Interested in having your band featured on this weekly article? E-mail us at pyramidnoise@gmail.com with the subject line "Free Metal Monday" with links to your Bandcamp page.
