Free Music.
Every Monday!
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Sea Oleena - Sleeplessness
There are certain trends I notice when trawling BandCamp for
free albums. The first is folk, a lot of people put out free folk albums. While
I’m sure some of these are great I don’t listen to enough Folk to be able to
tell if they’re worth listening to or not and so I tend to leave them be. The
second is Post-Rock, a genre second only to Djent in
the rock world's hierarchy of bedroom produced albums.
With such saturation of the market, it seems impossible to
not include a Post-Rock or Folk album into these articles week-by-week. But
what’s the point of posting something generic when you have Sea Oleena’s Sleeplessness? This
Canadian release’s mixture of Folk elements and Post-Rock sprinkled over a stew
of Ambient Lo-fi Shoegaze creates a rather appetising sonic signature. Unlike
much Post-Rock and Shoegaze, the instrumental focal point is not on electric
guitars, but the haunting and ethereal vocals of Charlotte Oleena. Indeed Electric Guitars are completely absent
from this special brand of Shoegaze; Piano, Acoustic Guitar and big round Bass
tones instead fill up this dreamscape (with a small hint of electronics for good
measure,) I suppose that’s where the folk elements become apparent.
The song writing is gorgeous, and the production is lush and
deep. This album, I believe, will bring up different metal images for everyone,
but to me it is the backdrop to a rainy city street. Not because the album
itself is sad and grey, but because it is the opposite. It’s soft and
comforting, but in a way that makes you feel as if those Summer days are in the
past; not the present. Sleeplessness manages to take stale genre tropes and
make something fresh out of them; a release well worth your time.
I was initially drawn to this release by the album art. It is thoroughly bad-ass isn’t it? The suitably retro cover is the gate to an impressively detailed Chiptune release from Vanishes. While some of the synth sounds on All Cities Flashing, Always seem harsh and unpalatable on BandCamp’s over loud player (as their divine will seems happy to cover VAT calculations but not add a volume control) the production is actually rather impressive. Sounds that could easily become a loud mess are instead highly emotive, tracks like Beatrix Saves The Queen, for example, takes white noise and crafts it in to a surprisingly emotive melodic tool.
It is this use of emotion that I find most
impressive on this release. Chiptune, which is basically electronica made with
old video game sounds for those not in the know, is normally associate with a
far happier, more melodious style. Vanishes however, seem to be going straight
for a dark audio assault that is about as far from the genre stereotype as you can
get. Yes the production is spot on; that doesn’t mean it is always pleasant,
but it is always effective and enjoyable.
Vanishes - All Cities Flashing, Forever
I was initially drawn to this release by the album art. It is thoroughly bad-ass isn’t it? The suitably retro cover is the gate to an impressively detailed Chiptune release from Vanishes. While some of the synth sounds on All Cities Flashing, Always seem harsh and unpalatable on BandCamp’s over loud player (as their divine will seems happy to cover VAT calculations but not add a volume control) the production is actually rather impressive. Sounds that could easily become a loud mess are instead highly emotive, tracks like Beatrix Saves The Queen, for example, takes white noise and crafts it in to a surprisingly emotive melodic tool.
Even when melodies and synth sounds present themselves in a
more upbeat fashion, the sampling philosophy found on this release has a habit
of undermining it. The majority of the “vocals” on this album are samples
from old 80s and 90s cassettes that the artist has. These tapes consist of children
saying random kid stuff, presumably they’re old home movies or kids playing radio or something like that. Adding these recordings to the nostalgia fest that is Chiptune, the whole thing becomes an experiment in the halcyon
days of the listener (assuming they’re in their 20s or early 30's.) Even when the kids aren’t saying
sad things (which they do) the whole thing seems rather down, like someone
realising that these are not the times they live in any more. All Cities Flashing, Forever is a soundtrack to
lost youth presented in a wonderfully retro package.
I was honestly surprised to see that this album was free. I remember reading about it some time ago and it received pretty good reviews. Now that I have listened to Kowloon Walled City’s 2012 release, Container Ships, I can see why. Drinking heavily from the chalice of Unsane and Isis this is a dragging monolith of an album which is as light and it is expensive …which it is to say it’s damn heavy. San Franciscan Sludgy Noise Rockers' pulsating, bass heavy sound is that special kind of sinister that only Post-Metal and Sludge seem to be able to pull off. It doesn’t need speed to be aggressive. This album has all the aggression you could ever need, bubbling under the surface of the instrumentation and in the grim, desperate vocals.
Kowloon Walled City - Container Ships
I was honestly surprised to see that this album was free. I remember reading about it some time ago and it received pretty good reviews. Now that I have listened to Kowloon Walled City’s 2012 release, Container Ships, I can see why. Drinking heavily from the chalice of Unsane and Isis this is a dragging monolith of an album which is as light and it is expensive …which it is to say it’s damn heavy. San Franciscan Sludgy Noise Rockers' pulsating, bass heavy sound is that special kind of sinister that only Post-Metal and Sludge seem to be able to pull off. It doesn’t need speed to be aggressive. This album has all the aggression you could ever need, bubbling under the surface of the instrumentation and in the grim, desperate vocals.
Atmosphere is truly the focus of this release, it is minimalistic,
spartan and absolutely oppressive; it is indeed much like the Container Ship of
its name sake in its utilitarian bleakness. As far as album names Kowloon Walled City have really hit the
nail on the head here. It is a cliché thing to say, but this is one of those albums where staring at the album cover while listening really does fit perfectly. The band care not for soloing, overly melodious leads,
or anything that distracts from the percussive, groove based riffing. That is not to say there is no melody, tracks like Container
Ships itself do have incredibly emotive (i.e. bleak) passages based on
melodies created through the interactions between the low-end and guitar parts. Creating melody whilst remaining absolutely devastating. If you're looking for something as heavy and roughly hewn as a concrete wall, then look no further.
Interested in having your band featured on this weekly article? E-mail us at pyramidnoise@gmail.com with the subject line "Free Music Monday" with links to your Bandcamp page.
