I have a new reviewing blog at
http://gusreviews.blogspot.com that is solely dedicated to album reviews. No clutter or filling, just review after review. I have back-dated and posted all the reviews I've posted to The Palace there. Please visit, leave a comment, and subscribe or follow if you like. Plus, if you have an album that you would like reviewed there please hit me up. Peace, out.
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Added by Angus Maiden on October 31, 2009 at 3:42am —
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I was trying to think of a way to describe this music, not being a fan of genres and tags, but recognising that people want to know what to expect before they listen to something. The best tag I could think of was “stoner-rock-tech-doom-metal”, but then I read the accompanying press-release that the lads from Dr. Slaggleberry kindly supplied me with the CD. They describe their music as math-rock. Of course! It all makes sense now. I’m a bit of a noob when it comes to genres, or more specifically…
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Added by Angus Maiden on October 26, 2009 at 4:49am —
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Yea. Really, yea. Like, a lot.
My last review of these guys ended on the high note of wanting “to watch their future releases with intrigue”, having picked apart both their flaws and better attributes. This 4-track EP is one of those future, now present, releases.
I think the title of the album is a good place to start: it’s something a person hurled forward in a time machine from even as recent as the 80s would just say “WHAT?!”, but we’re all tech-savvy net-linguists these days and we know e…
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Added by Angus Maiden on October 24, 2009 at 7:04am —
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I’ve never been a fan of people who decide whether music is good or not based on popularity. On one end of the spectrum there are those that simply don’t know that any music but commercial popcrap exists, but even worse in my opinion are those who immediately cast a shadow of doubt on music just because it’s popular. Now I’m not talking about the genre “pop”, we all know that top-40 stuff sucks, but it’s just insane to say, as I have heard many times, that an amazing alternative rock band like M…
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Added by Angus Maiden on September 23, 2009 at 1:39am —
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I get very excited about great music, and often my reviews are hyperactively praising, but this time there’s really just not enough I can say to justify this album. I am blown away. I wish I could go back in time and tone down the enthusiasm of some of my earlier reviews to give this album the relative standing it deserves. VAST’s self-titled album was amazing. “Nothing Shocking” by Jane’s Addiction was more amazing. “Mer de Noms” by A Perfect Circle: exquisite. But holy fuck, Red Friday’s debut…
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Added by Angus Maiden on September 22, 2009 at 6:24am —
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I have put off reviewing this album for a long time, because there is so much I want to say about it, yet so little at the same time; more than anything I want you to merely listen to it. For this guy pours his heart and soul into his music; but rather than sieving it, kneading it and cookie-cutting it into a perfectly produced popcrap album, it spills over the edges, it gets smudged with dirt, its raw emotion shows through like bone in a deep wound. And this is exactly what makes it so beautifu…
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Added by Angus Maiden on September 20, 2009 at 1:20am —
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There’s nothing spectacular about this music but it got me turning it up to 11 and rocking the fuck out. Industrial music can often carry with it a swathe of petty goth-core imagery and try-hard darkness, yet apart from slightly clichéd lyrics these guys are solidly awesome without any pretence. The guy’s voice works well with this style of music and the production is simply astounding. Hard hitting bass and synth lines and heavy guitar backed up by perfect drums. I often write reviews of albums…
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Added by Angus Maiden on September 8, 2009 at 8:58am —
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Listening to Titee’s music, one gets the feeling that he is a man so advanced in wisdom that he has learned how to be a child again. His approach to melody, tone and rhythm is that of a wide-eyed, innocent child, exploring and playing make-believe. Going to and fro and in and out of blast-beats and arpeggios, smooth pads and deep bass, and the occasional (yet perfectly placed) vocal, the music defies normality vehemently and evokes pure, youthful imagination. Yet behind this curtain of playfulne…
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Added by Angus Maiden on September 8, 2009 at 6:00am —
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It's been done before, but it's so damn good, it demands to be heard: punk rock demands fresh young
blood. Generations after Joe Strummer at the same time belted out his anti-establishment, anti-racist, anti-military message whilst also feeling jaded at catapulting the genre into the mainstream, he would have been happy to hear that there is still truly underground punk rock n roll happening, and they share his message: Keep it real, fuck the system, put your faith in the kids, don't hate each o…
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Added by Angus Maiden on August 25, 2009 at 4:52am —
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I've been idly using vinyl decks on and off for the past few years and have just recorded my first DJ Set. Pretty ameuterish but great background music for a party or session. Download it now before Blutonium Boys sue me!
http://soundcloud.com/gamoneterik/dj-gamoneterik-bargain-bin-bash
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Added by Angus Maiden on August 12, 2009 at 11:24am —
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Music doesn’t have to be original to be good, particularly in the case of bluesy rock. In this age where synthesiser and software technology is getting sharper by the minute, it’s very refreshing to hear a 12 bar blues progression, and to hear it done faithfully, and with passion. The 12 bar blues, the pentatonic riff, that perfect amount of guitar distortion: these things will never die.
The Hi-Nobles carry off their highly polished blues rock sound with more than just finesse, it has an amazi…
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Added by Angus Maiden on August 2, 2009 at 2:40am —
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I have made a new mini-album entitled "Magick".
FREE in high quality at www.archive.org/details/Magick
Magick, in the broadest sense, is any act designed to cause intentional change.
This spelling of the word was coined by Aleister Crowley, adding the 'k' to distinguish it from stage magic and other practices. He defined the term as "the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the will." By this, he included "mundane" acts of will as well as ritual magic. Everything from…
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Added by Angus Maiden on July 15, 2009 at 12:29pm —
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The bane of good music's existence, the dreaded "pop", rears its ugly head, turns towards you with a smile, and says "Don't hate this until you rate this, it is actually really good."
Despite being obviously "pop", these guys do something with their structure that I always love: rather than going A B A B C A, the tried-and-true method, they go "Fuck it we're gonna chuck an X in there... Yea, A B X C Z B A". It's the mark of musicians that are completely confident with their sounds and where the…
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Added by Angus Maiden on July 1, 2009 at 5:04am —
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My first review of Germany's electroid Baskyl was drooling with praise over his lush soundscapism, incredible sense of melody and rhythm, and amazing ability to morph and evolve.
In doing my second review of this artist, the tantalising journey that is "Monochrome Rainbow Snorters", I would be repeating myself if I merely heaped praise on him. Let it be known he is an incredible composer and musician, and we shall move forward from there.
But how shall we move forward? Well, I hate to be a wan…
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Added by Angus Maiden on July 1, 2009 at 4:00am —
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In a field like technical death-metal, it’s very rare to find truly underground, little known music, churning out sharp, cutting-edge riffage that you would expect from the giants of metal. Yet so blissful was said riffage to my ears that I held off reviewing this EP for some time, knowing I would need to summon all of my inner powers in praise of the beauty found on this recording.
These guys are almost good enough to be held in accolade alongside modern day legends such as Arch Enemy, In Flam…
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Added by Angus Maiden on June 2, 2009 at 11:05pm —
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There are two things that spring to mind immediately when I listen to this recording:
1) This stuff would be so much better live.
2) No one over 19 listens to this stuff.
Keeping these things in mind, I listen to the lyrically-driven ska stomping of syllable upon
syllable and the plonk, plonk, plonk of the guitar, bass and drums, and try and find some enjoyment
in this music. But although the frontman Michael "Happy" Weininger delivers his message with a
certain sense of zeal, the two things ab…
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Added by Angus Maiden on May 18, 2009 at 6:12am —
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I've been honing and refining this album for quite some time and am now completely satisfied with it, so now, it is in your hands. As always my music is free and this album is no exception. "Lift The Black Veil", which can be found from archive.org at 320kbps
here, explores something rather prevelant in western culture: the vampire. The album takes a look at both the fantastic, mythical vampire archetype as well as exploring the notio…
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Added by Angus Maiden on May 7, 2009 at 12:02pm —
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This is a good album. Good like the warm water between fire and ice, quite suitable for a band called
polarOPPOSITEbear, and I use this analogy because this album does indeed contain polar opposites: those of win and those of fail. As many outstanding shining, burning elements there are in this EP, there is an equal amount of shit, both woven together to produce the satisfactorily simple “good”.
To get it out of the way, let’s talk about the shit first. These guys don’t know how to write…
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Added by Angus Maiden on April 30, 2009 at 9:11am —
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My first reactions:
"Yes yes, yes!"
"Wait, what? Don't wuss out on me now with the vocals..."
(Still on first track: "Welcome to Sin City")
"...Eugh I know I'm welcome in Sin City but you're not, lead singer..."
"...I really wish this was either purely instrumental or death-metal growled."
Moving further into the album, I applaud the lyrics, which are intelligent, and I empathise deeply with this guy wanting to present his message in his own voice. But that's ju…
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Added by Angus Maiden on April 27, 2009 at 7:05am —
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Leave Emos Alone Right NOW! (My Online Diary) (2009)
This collection of works began as the "rejects" that didn't fit into my latest concept album. I tossed a coin to see if I would release it as a seperate entity or completely forget about it. I picked tails, it came up heads, but as always with these things that's when I realised I really did want to release it. The title pretty much sums up the album: a subtle…
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Added by Angus Maiden on April 3, 2009 at 11:26am —
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