Music

Not to mention one of the best music videos of the year in all of its cheap beer glory. Portland’s Red Fang are one of those stoner metal bands that are all the rage right now but oh my oh my if this song isn’t chalk full of the greatest riff of the year after the greatest riff of the year. Do yourself a favor, next time these guys swing by your local bar. Check them out.

Joint video for “These Hands” and “January Twenty Something” off WHY?’s latest album, Eskimo Snow. To me, “These Hands” was just about a perfect intro to the disc, and I’m glad that its nostalgic tones are dreamily placed alongside the playfulness of “January Twenty Something” in this two-part story. Neither would have worked so well without the other, and not to get all film school student or art critic on you, but the juxtaposition of these videos seems to highlight just some of the important themes of the album, oh yes.

Mostly, though, I’m awaiting a video for “Against Me”. Hopefully it comes soon!

Video directed by Ben Barnes.

This video isn’t for the easily squeamish, but it’s pretty amazing in its 8-bit goodness. Inspired by the song’s title, “Trucker’s Delight,” the video is an off-the-wall, videogame-like tribute to the darkest and foulest parts of truck drivers’ lifestyles. There’s some blood, some tits and ass, and loads of overall lude behavior, but it’s all displayed so adorably! It’s appealing in the way that something like Happy Tree Friends is appealing, so if that’s your bag, this is probably your bag, too.

Directed by Jérémie Perin (Premiere Heure).

Just sharing some jolly good locally-grown experimental psych-pop with you, courtesy of Big Spider’s Back and director Karla Santos. The video for “Warped” captures psychedelic pop in its essence, really, with radiant colors swirling in and out of consciousness, melding with shapes and figures reminiscent of those formed when Polaroids burn or planets collide.

Warped from Karla Santos on Vimeo.

So I got the new album from Motion Turns It On to review and after giving it one listen, I am hooked on the massively spazzy/jazzy sounds this instrumental-ish band is throwing out there. But, they don’t have a lot of material out there, only an EP and this new full length from what I can tell, and the band hasn’t hit youtube fame quite yet. But still…this live video has some pretty decent quality.

I hear the words “haunting” and “beautiful” used to describe a lot of songs, but to me, this beautiful track by Black Feather, “Razor Blade,” is epic and daring and completely worthy of those two adjectives.

Their record dropped earlier this year on Portland, Oregon’s Other Electricities, and I’d say this song is the best of the bunch.

This video was filmed in Kabul, Afghanistan by Anders Sømme Hammer. The video’s a little rough with its use of youth boxers, but it peaks when the song peaks and subsides when the song subsides.

Wrinkly old men and women in a primitive yet modern instrumental utopia? Loinclothes, bows and arrows, and BBQ meat central?

Fever Ray / The Knife vocalist Karin Dreijer Andersson sings for Röyksopp’s new single, “This Must Be It,” and the video is a weird weird take on a community that’s a little bit hippie, a little bit barbarian, and a little bit Mad Max (but perfectly capable of drumming up a storm and dancing with body glitter, of course).

Not sure if I actually like the video, but it’s certainly a little bit entertaining.

2009 October 30 @ Parkside, San Francisco, CA

Divine Heresy

If I liked this kind of music, I would call it a good set. It was metal, but hardly a genre that draws as much attention today that it may have about a decade or more ago. The music was well-played, but the vocals were really annoying. I just can’t appreciate vocalists who remind me of Rage Against The Machine, Korn, or Pennywise, and that’s kind of what they made me think of. Now, if you want to listen to these significant, yet passé bands and their barking singers, you only need to play to an old album that may have meant a ton to you in junior high — or go to a Divine Heresy show. I, for one, don’t want to hear any of it. Out with the old, and in with the new. I wouldn’t be so harsh if it weren’t for the fact that along with the band’s barking vocalist, after the set they went back to their merch area and promoted some clothing company that basically focused more on hot chicks than the band logo itself. I always imagine metal bands as being apathetic to marketing aside from the barebones essentials of saying, “Cool, thanks,” when someone purchases a T-shirt. This band may be a great group for a specific fanbase, but I can’t really speak for them. And seeing that most Divine Heresy fans left as soon as their set did, I think the music exists within a limited scope. Maybe I’m being harsh. Maybe there just wasn’t enough long hair and Satanism.

Secrets Of The Moon

So let us now move onto what I consider to be the metal highlight of the night, week, and even month. Secrets Of The Moon traveled all the way from Germany to present the most seemingly subtle, yet hard and forceful set that any lover of black metal could ask for. The band, with three men and one woman, were all dressed down. They looked the part but had no frills. As the set commenced, the vocalist, guitarist and bassist stood with their backs to the audience. Everyone got kind of excited about this. Even though we had seen their faces while they set up the stage, the element of mystery is still essential to the success of the show. While remaining very still, they played a slow, bleak melody. All I could see was their impressively long hair. By the time they faced the audience, the music was much faster, angrier, and very impressive.

Throughout the set, the music never strayed from a solid black metal foundation, though had its own imperative message to relay. The music was not simple, but it was certainly stripped down to what the band chose to relay to its listeners — which I believe can be unearthed in their lyrics. Though I don’t really know what they mean specificially, I am pretty sure these guys are disappointed with the state of humanity in more ways than one. Secrets Of The Moon are fast, sad, angry, Satanic and very polite on and off stage. They are also really good at headbanging in unison, and more than that, they are excellent musicians. The drummer, Thrawn Thelemnar, though using what looked to be the venue’s drum kit, displayed tremendous virtuosity. He didn’t waste his time with florid frills, but rather played very steady, yet complex beats. He had an endless supply of energy and even struck a pose for me to photograph him in. The other band members were talented as well. Secrets Of The Moon deserves reverence and support from the metal community. If you have a chance to see them as they continue their U.S. tour, I highly recommend checking them out and purchasing their latest album, Privilegivm.

Moonspell

I’m just going to dive in. Portugal’s Moonspell are so cheesy, but in such an epic way that I couldn’t stop gawking. I don’t know if I am crossing lines when I suggest that this band had some serious Latino machismo. When you add this to the inherent machismo seen in metal musicians, they exceed the max measurement on my macho scale. At this point in the evening, the audience was almost entirely Latino. They were yelling and cheering, they were chanting, they were arm and arm, screaming, “Te amo, man!” to each other and then moments later they’d start shoving each other around in a manly frenzy. Obviously, Moonspell has magical abilities, seeing that they were able to invoke this behavior in audience members who had previously been a docile, beer sipping crowd.

Moonspell are a big deal. In other countries, they fill much larger venues. They are pretty huge, and they represent a sizeable influence on contemporary metal. Nonetheless, they are still kind of cheesy. Unlike Secrets Of The Moon, Moonspell’s band members are exhibitionists. There wear wallet chains, eye liner, those weird goth/raver pants with the chain links hanging off of them, fingerless gloves, and headscarves. They do power lunges, they have emotional faces, they use synthesizers, and they have a preoccupation with the Roman Catholic Church. Moonspell had their own illuminating slide show/video superimposed on the wall behind them. The imagery plus their logo, which is a dark, sad and benevolent Mary figure cradling an animal skull, cements their probable attachment to metal music that challenges and subverts the roots of Catholicism. That’s totally cool… but the cheesiness was still integral to every aspect of the set. I honestly think that there’s no way this band isn’t good; it just has to be up to the fan. For your convenience, I have created a checklist to help you decide if Moonspell’s right for you.

1) Are you a teenager or a teenage angst-ridden adult?
2) Are you kind of goth, but still appreciate metal?
3) Are you a gamer and/or roleplayer?
4) Do you like wearing eye liner and making clinking sounds when you walk?
5) Do you like lunging while holding your hands in desperation up to the sky?

If you answered yes to any of the questions, this band’s for you.

Ω

The lead-in to Arms And Sleepers’ new disc, Matador, is only a little over a minute, but it does what it’s supposed to. In just that short time period, it wordlessly sets the stage for the rest of the disc, with twinkling keys pricking in and out of the background and strings gliding over its surface. With ease, the song harnesses the imagery of water sparking in the moonlight, marking it the first of many visuals to come.

With Matador, Arms And Sleepers have created an ambient blend that really works. The title track is slow and contemplative, ushered along by sorrowful violin, occasional guitar, and manipulated vocals. “The Architekt” follows, giving the listener just a taste of what it would be like to be weightless and visiting a foreign planet basked in sepia tones. Echoey piano and airy male-female vocals, courtesy of Ben Shepard and Catherine Worsham, propel this visual along until it dims slowly out of sight.

The whole ten track album floats along like this, showing off flurries of different instrumentation and vocalists along the way. Matador is a body of work that’s instantly relatable — cinematic in its imagery and full of emotions as diverse and complex as human emotions really are. At times, the effect is subtle, with emotions bleeding slightly into one another; sadness is tinged with undertones of happiness and desire fades slightly to reveal hints of satisfaction. Other times, an overt mood shift occurs, with musical grey clouds disintegrating into angelic vocals and epic crescendos which stop as quickly as they began.

Ultimately, the abundance of visual imagery created by Matador contributes to making it an easily repeatable listen. Its introversion and sincerity make it a foreign, yet strangely familiar place to feel right at home in.

Ω

The Happy Hollows play slightly discordant indie rock that shines, thanks to witty and provocative vocals by frontwoman Sarah Negahdari. There’s something off kilter and, dare I say, demented about her lyrics and delivery that makes repeated listens unavoidable. What the instrumentation lacks in complexity it makes up for in pleasant arrangements and subtle psychedelia. Kind of reminds me of what locals Sick Bees are shooting for, and it’s just as amusing. There’s something inherently cool about bands like this.

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