Luciano Cilio - Dell'Universo Assente (320) (2004 Reissue)

I feel late to the probably small, depressing party. I only very recently got this album, and I'm still taking it in. This album was originally released in 1977, and it was reissued in 2004 by Die Schachtel. I would describe it as a classical album, I guess. But it's unlike other classical music I've heard. It's very dark, and feels like this album couldn't have a more appropriate title. I don't know what else to say really, but this album feels special. I doubt many people will ever see this post, but the more places it's it's preserved, the better the chance of someone stumbling on to it as I did.

Edit: I've also seen this ablum called Dialoghi del presente. 

Tracklist:

1. Primo Quadro "Della Conoscenza"
2. Secondo Quadro
3. Terzo Quadro
4. Quarto Quadro "Dell'Universo Assente
5. Interludio
6. Della Conoscenza (Originale Versione Inedita)
7. Studio Per Fiati (Originale Inedito)
8. Suiff (Frammento)
9. Liebesleid (Frammento Inedito)
10. Terzo Quadro
11. 4A Sonato

It's like your life, but with meaning.

The Mars Volta - Octahedron (320) (2009)

When Cedric told everyone that the next TMV album would be their "acoustic album," you knew it would either be brilliant or else a disappointment. Sadly, this one is the latter. The bottom line is that, while TMV are adequate when they're low-key, when they do it for an entire album they lose a lot of the magical qualities that made me love them so much in the first place. For many other bands, this would be a great start: for TMV, it's simply boring.

Not to say that there aren't highlights: for Cedric, this is probably his best vocal effort to date. Clean and with less effects, we get to hear how truly talented he is as a singer. And there is one absolute cannot-miss song here in Teflon, which is one of TMV's greatest tracks.

But sadly, one out of eight isn't enough. Cotopaxi does try and liven things up, but surrounded by the slower and more ambient tracks, it feels almost out of place, even though it's what TMV does best. Also completely silenced on this album is Pridgen, whose drumming on Bedlam was half of what made that album so special. Did this contribute to Pridgen's recent departure from the band? Who knows. It does make me very sad, because like I said in the Bedlam review, I really feel like Pridgen was a perfect fit for this band with his playing style.

Definitely worth a listen for Teflon alone and there are some other good moments, but overall their weakest effort to date. An interesting but failed experiment.

Let the wheels burn stack the tires to the neck with a body inside

The Mars Volta - The Bedlam In Goliath (320) (2008)

Finally, the wait is over: I get to ramble on and on about my favorite TMV album.

First of all, I want to discuss the general philosophy this album follows: go balls to the wall, rock out as hard as you can, as loud as you can. Looking for another gradual build-up intro like Vicarious Atonement? Piss off. Aberinkula hits you hard from the opening note, and doesn't let up. Welcome to Bedlam. Get used to it. Metatron is slightly less completely and utterly bat-shit insane, but is still plenty heavy. Ilyena is probably my favorite TMV song ever, with a funky, infectious groove, perfect vocals from Cedric, and, to quote Pitchfork, "six minutes of Thomas Pridgen soloing." (This is a good thing though)

It's at this point that I need to talk about the drumming, because it creates much of the love and respect I have for this album. Yes, Jon Theodore is no longer with us. Thomas Pridgen has replaced him. But, as great a drummer as Jon Theodore is, I like Pridgen more. Technically, Theodore is probably superior. But I'm not exaggerating when I say that Pridgen fits TMV perfectly, and because of this no other drummer could do what he does on this album. TMV is at their best when they adopt a "fuck-it" attitude and just jam the fuck out. Pridgen is at his best when he is able to just jam the fuck out. And TMV unleash their new member in full on this album.

Pridgen again gets put on display in the 2-minute single Wax Simulacra, which is unlike TMV have ever done. Goliath, my second favorite TMV song ever, is just a full out jam: all members just going nuts, with multiple guitar solos from Omar, Cedric screaming, Pridgen going nuts on the skins. Tourniquet Man finally slows things down for a few minutes, bridging the two halves of the album nicely together.

I will admit that the second half of the album has never clicked as much with me as the first half, which is still for my money five of the best tracks ever laid down in a row. Part of the reason I think is because, while the first five do rock incredibly well, they also retain the focus found in Amputechture. I think the second half, especially tracks like Cavalettas, do lose that focus a little and are a little bit more confused and aimless. Not to say that these tracks aren't good: Agadez, Ouroborous, and Conjugal Burns are all righteous. But the first half of the album is simply genious, and that's difficult to match.

Overall, I love this album because of the absolute frenzied nature of it. I've said this before, I feel that TMV is at their best when they don't try and hold themselves back, when they just go for it completely, no holds barred. And as far as crazy goes, this album is crazy, in a deliciously good way.

Have you seen the living tired of their own shells?

The Mars Volta - Amputechture (320) (2006)

Ah, Amputechture. The album that you either love or hate. The last album to feature original drummer Jon Theodore (but never fear, because Thomas Pridgen is waiting in the wings to completely mindfuck you). The album that contains possibly the greatest straight-up rocker that TMV have ever done. And, personally, my second favorite TMV album.

Depending on your feelings about the relatively "spacey" nature of Frances, you will either be pleased or disappointed to learn that this album is much more tightly constructed. The "techture" in the album title references architecture, and the architecture is what makes this album awesome. Listened to from beginning to end, this album has a natural flow that is half of what makes it so special for me. It's difficult to describe, but this album progresses as it goes and really seems to always just feel right, whether it's the brilliantly quiet 7-minute opener, the 17 minute epic Tetragrammaton, or the aforementioned blistering rock track Viscera Eyes. There's little filler here: if you want to nitpick and call Vermicide filler I understand where you're coming from, but overall the band wastes almost no time, which is even more admirable considering this is their 3rd full length album in 3 years.

Sonically, aside from the differences I already mentioned between this album and Frances (lack of ambient noise sections), the band does emphasize their Latin roots a little bit more at certain parts of this album, although nothing terribly dramatic if you didn't mind tracks such as L'via L'viaquez.

Overall definitely a must listen, although as I mentioned already this is definitely a polarizing album.

Holy shit Viscera Eyes is a kickass track though

The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute (320) (2005)

We continue Mars Volta week with their sophomore effort, Frances the Mute. Now, when we last met TMV on De-Loused, we used the word energy to describe some of the power that they generated. On their debut, TMV were able to utilize this power and energy while maintaining the focus necessary to avoid turning their album into a crazy psychadelic wankfest. The album clocked in at a solid hour, most tracks averaged 5 to 7 minutes in length, and there wasn't really any part of the album that made you question why it was there. So restraint, then, too.

The thing you have to realize, however however (and this is part of the reason I think I've never really been able to gel with De-Loused), is this: when TMV show restraint, they are fucking boring. As boring as a band who does what they do can be. And that's just disappointing, because on De-Loused, TMV put all the genres I listed (psychadelic, latin, jazz, punk, post-hardcore, etc) into a blender and used that unique recipe to create an album that poked its head out of the box. With Frances, TMV step outside of the box completely. And it's genius. Fucking genius. But it also requires an extra effort on the part of the listener, because TMV are done holding your hand and walking you through their music. It's time to grow a pair and enter the real world.

The differences are obvious at first glance: unlike De-Loused, Frances technically contains only five tracks, 3 between 13-15 minutes and one, the closing track, over a half hour. The reason that the final track is broken up like it is, BTW, is b/c if TMV had released the album with five tracks, it would technically have been an EP, which would have netted them less money. But moving from the track listing into the tracks themselves, we have an interesting transformation. We have the same basic building blocks: the punky post-hardcore, jazz, latin sound with the progressive song structures and...erm...unique lyrics and vocals. With this album, however, we add in stretches of chaotic ambient noise, sections of songs that seemingly appear to be nothing but filler. Even The Widow, which (somehow) became a single and actually generated radio play (although edited), ends with several minutes of static leading into L'via L'viaquez.

So, to summarize, what does it all mean? Well, unlike their first album, TMV is not simply putting it all out there for you with no effort on your part. You have to actively listen to this album to appreciate it, to understand how those sections that seemingly accomplish no purpose actually make the album so special compared to what I see as the relatively dry and somewhat stale debut album. Frances has life. This is the moment where TMV start to take every commonly held notion about creating an album and writing music, throw it out the window, and do whatever the fuck they want to do. And this is a band talented enough that it's exciting to see them do it, and succeed so well doing it.

Still can't believe The Widow ever received radio airplay though

The Mars Volta - De-Loused In The Comatorium (320) (2003)

This is not my favorite Mars Volta album. Although many, many Volta fans (perhaps even the majority) would claim this as their favorite, it has always been the one album (well, besides lolOctahedron) that never fully clicked with me. Although I appreciate its originality as TMV's debut and appreciate the quality, I definitely prefer the followup Frances the Mute, the chaotic and frenetic Bedlam in Goliath, and even the less-appreciated but perfectly architectured Amputechture over this debut.

So why am I posting this album when I just rated it as my fourth favorite in a five-album discography? Because it's the best album for anybody who hasn't listened to the Mars Volta to begin with. It's a litmus test. If you like this album, even a little, even if you don't like the whole thing or can't fully appreciate it on first listen, you should give each of those other albums a listen (because the beauty of the Mars Volta is that all of their albums are unique).

Oh, as for what to expect? Well, frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez formed this band after the breakup of the post-hardcore/punk band At The Drive-In, so definitely expect to hear some of that. Now mix that with psychadelic rock, jazz, latin, crazy time signatures, guitar solos, and badass musicianship. But the hidden element is what drives this album (and their others): energy. When you start going fast enough that your car starts to shake and you're on the verge of losing control, that is what this band harnesses in their music. And the slightly scary thing is, this is by far their most refined and non-weird album (Bedlam, for example, continuing the above metaphor, is when the rivets holding your car together break and you're suddenly catapulted fifty feet above the freeway).

Take the veil cerpin taxt

A Place To Bury Strangers - A Place To Bury Strangers (UK Re-release w/bonus tracks) (320) (2007)

There's a place where the term 'heavy' ceases to be a useful adjective, where the desperate, frenetic sound waves reach a point of no return and distort into a chaotic cacophony of feedback, static, and white noise. In their brilliant debut, this UK trio take the sound pioneered by bands such as My Bloody Valentine and JAMC and combine it with the despondent melancholy of post-punk bands such as Joy Division. 

The standout track here by far is the absolutely brilliant Don't Think Lover, which although lyrically simple is the perfect illustration of this genetic cross. But the entire album should be considered a required reading for anybody who has ever considered experimenting with an effects pedal, because this is how it's done. 

So don't think lover that love lasts forever

The Roots - How I Got Over (320) (2010)

Buy the album when it comes out on the 22nd. Seriously, buy it. I'd buy two, if I could spare that much. I'll have to settle for one.

Tracklist:

1. A Peace of Light
2. Walk Alone
3. Dear God 2.0
4. Radio Daze
5. Now Or Never
6. How I Got Over
7. DillaTUDE - Flight of Titus
8. The Day
9. Right On
10. Doin' it Again
11. The Fire 
12. Tunnel Vision
13. Web 20-20
14. Hustla

Dear God, I'm tryin' hard to reach you...

Cynic - Re-Traced [EP] (320) ( 2008)

In a previous post, I defined Cynic as a mix of Jazz and Metal. That really doesn't apply to this EP. If you ever heard "Traced in Air" and thought, "I wish this album was a lot more mellow and only had Paul Masvidal's vocals minus the vocoder," then this is for you. I imagine fans of Cynic's heavier, more "Brutal" work may be disappointed. The first for tracks are "reinterpretations" of "Space for This, Evolutionary Sleeper, King of Those Who Know, and Integral Birth," with the final track sounding like it would feel at home on "Traced in Air." It is important to realize that this is basically a remix EP, not an album proper. It's just another way for Cynic to present the music, and another way for you to enjoy it.

Tracklist:

1. Space
2. Evolutionary
3. King
4. Integral
5. Wheels Within Wheels

iheartacousticversionsofcynicsongs.com

Cynic - Traced in Air (320) (2008)

Continuing the trend of "posting albums that I love," I give you "Traced in Air." This is Cynic's second album, with their debut "Focus" being released shortly before their breakup in 1994. It didn't really catch on immediately, the Death Metal/Jazz Fusion mix probably being initially off putting to most people. After reuniting in 2007 and finding a surprising amount of interest in their work, they decided to release a second album. In 2008, the completed and released "Traced in Air." The album definitely expands on the Jazz Fusion element in their music, but the metal definitely maintains its presence. If you even have a passing interest in either Metal or Jazz, I encourage you to give it a listen. It certainly didn't seem like the kind of thing that would attract my interest when I first came across it, but that view has certainly changed.

Tracklist:

1.  Nunc Fluens
2. The Space for This
3. Evolutionary Sleeper
4. Integral Birth
5. The Unkown Guest
6. Adam's Murmur
7. King of Those Who Know
8. Nunc Stans

...breath in, breath out...

Grüvis Malt - ...With The Spirit Of A Traffic Jam (V0) (2002)

I take my album reviewing responsibilities very seriously. I mean, when you're co-running a blog of such a high caliber as NAE, there's a lot of pressure. To help myself out with this particular review, I decided to go to the source. What you have here is an original, never before seen interview with the Grüvis Malt.

NAE: Guys, thanks so much for doing this interview. It really means a lot.

GM: No problem, man. Um...we're a little embarrassed to admit this, but we had actually never heard of North American Empire until you called us and asked us to do this interview. This is a legitimate publication, right?

NAE: Perfectly legitimate.

GM: Good. I mean, we're not actually technically even together anymore, so it's not like we had anything better to do, but still. I think half of us were probably expecting to show up and see two college dudes trying to replicate their own Pitchfork-induced music review fetishes.

NAE: *coughs* Well...I'm...um...I'm glad that's not the case, huh! *laughs nervously*

GM: No kidding.

NAE: *hurriedly checks notes* So you guys are originally from Providence, RI, correct?

GM: Yup. But really, nobody gives a shit about that. The only other band to come out of Providence worth anything is Lightning Bolt, and fuck that noise.

NAE: Hysterical. Fine, I guess my next question would be--

GM: Did you see what we did there? We made a noise rock joke. I'm not sure if you caught it.

NAE: Oh, I caught it. You guys are pretty funny, alright. I was going to ask what genre you guys would classify yourselves under.

GM: We're futurock, baby.

NAE: I'm pretty sure that's not actually a real genre. It tells you absolutely nothing about what style of music you actually play.

GM: It's a very real genre.

NAE: Well, no need to argue about this. As the other person who runs this blog can attest, I actually have a list of every single genre created throughout the history of music, from psychadelic-ambient-folk-drone to neo-psychadelic-progressive-latin-jazz-funk. And...*scans list*...no, I'm not seeing a "futurock" on this list.

GM: Well, see, we founded the futurock genre. We created it. We're pioneers.

NAE: Yeah...the thing is, if every band were allowed to "found" their own genre based on their misunderstood and often pretentious notion of what their music actually sounds like, it would rip a hole in the fabric of the space-time-music continuum. Now, I happened to listen to your album ...With The Spirit Of A Traffic Jam while I was driving over to the office here (I have a long commute), and let's be real. You guys are nothing more than a slightly jazzy hip-hop band.

GM: Not fair, brah. I mean, by labeling us as simply a hip-hop band, you're completely discounting the odd time signatures and composition structures of our tracks.

NAE: Fine. So you're a math-rock band.

GM: Well, we do share a lot of similarities with our math rock contemporaries. But if you leave it at that, you're liable to forget that when we do act like a hip-hop group, we have some damn good lyrics and some really damn good flow. I mean, you did listen to Nonsanity 2037X, right?

NAE: I did. 

GM: And by calling us either of those, you're also tempting your readers to forget that we obviously listened to a lot of jazz growing up in the old 401.

NAE: Okay, okay. So you're a jazzy, mathy hip-hop group. How's that?

GM: Getting there, but you're also leaving out how we are pretty progressive, considering our musicianship is off the charts for most of the album.

NAE: I mean, I guess, but not every band with members who can actually play an instrument can just call themselves progressive--

GM: And there's a certain funk quality to our stuff that you're still missing too, y'know?

NAE: *grabs genre list, pours gasoline on it, and sets it on fire* Fine! So, as the only futurock band on this planet, why should our readers take a chance with your album here?

GM: Chances are, they've never heard anything like this album before. I mean, we never did anything crazy like making our music so lo-fi that it sounds like it was recorded in an alleyway. We didn't have an overbearing, control-obsessed frontman who locked the rest of us in a bathroom and recorded all the instrument parts by himself. But we're still pretty damn original, y'know? I mean, you've heard our music before, but you've never heard it all put together like this.

NAE: That's probably a fair assessment. Now, the high point on this album by far is Even The Scars Forget The Wounds. Tell me a little about that song.

GM: It sums up our sound, man. It is futurock! It's got the hip-hop, the jazz, the math-rock, the prog, the funk, the musicianship, the lyrical flow, the lyrical--

NAE: Got it. I think. Well guys, thanks again for doing this interview. I'd say this is definitely the finest moment NAE has ever had in terms of futurock. By far.

GM: That's it? We have to drive all the way back to Providence now? I thought there'd be a photo op, a video shoot, something. I mean, we're not even well known in Rhode Island. And you guys promised us a feature article, where all of your readers will see it. 

NAE: Well, uh..yeah. I apologize about that. Just think of it this way though, now you'll have two or three more listeners than you currently do.

GM: Aw, man. Will you guys at least cover our gas for the drive back to Providence?

NAE: Look, we've got an operating budget of...hey, two Keystone Lights and a life-sized Thom Yorke poster. So I'd say that's not really a possibility. Sorry.

GM: We'll take the Keystones.

NAE: Deal.

Somebody turn the lights on I can't see through this mess

Ephel Duath - The Painter's Palette (320) (2003)

The Painter's Palette is easily one of this writer's favorite albums. The album is a little unusual; it's a concept album, with each track being assigned a color to represent. It's an odd mix of metal and jazz that can be initially off putting to someone who doesn't know what to expect. The album opener is a good example of what a listener can expect from this album, however. That is say, it transitions from smooth guitar and bass to chaotic drums, blaring trumpets, and screaming vocals in the span of 60 seconds. In the few places it's mentioned it seems to be thought of fondly, if that's worth anything. If an individual with diverse musical tastes and open mind were to approach it, I think they would find an interesting listen, if nothing else.

Tracklist:

1. "The Passage (Pearl Grey)"
2. "The Unpoetic Circle (Bottle Green)"
3. "Labyrinthine (Crimson)"
4. "Praha (Ancient Gold)" 
5. "The Picture (Bordeaux)" 
6. "Ruins (Deep Blue and Violet)" 
7. "Ironical Communion (Amber)" 
8. "My Glassy Shelter (Dirty White)" 
9. "The Other's Touch (Amaranth)" 

The result of too much free time.

Porcupine Tree - Ilosaarirock (V0) (2009)

Have yet to listen to this one although with the tracklist it has to be good.

Sixty-ton angel falls to the earth

Porcupine Tree - Deadwing (Bonus Track Shesmovedon) (V0) (2005)

Pitchfork is far too busy being the greatest fucking thing to ever exist to review this or any other Porcupine Tree album, but Sputnik gave it a 5/5 and RYM has it as the #14 album of 2005 so you know it's legit.

Follow me down to the valley below