Jagwar Ma – Howlin

Is it right to review an album that’s been out for a while now? Don’t think I should feel bad about it as I’m not working for NME or another hype machine. The three blokes from Jagwar Ma have been in the game since 2011 but their first LP Howlin has only been available in Europe since June this year and it quickly got my attention, to be quite honest.

The music can be described as a mix between Django Django and Tame Impala. Not that the latter do have something to do with electronic music but I personally tend to classify Jagwar Ma‘s music as slightly dreamy, yet hypnotic even if it’s dance music, in first instance. Maybe it’s too “soft” to be considered as psychedelic but it somehow totally stimulates my hypothalamus, which is a good thing.

The Throw, for example, is the best proof that Jagwar Ma isn’t just a typical electronic act. If first starts with a decent drum loop, reverb-loaded vocals, guitars and loads of other samples just to burst into some kind of dancy tune in the likes of Chk Chk Chk (a.k.a. !!!) or LCD Soundsystem. Four keeps the pace up and should be on every party playlist or whatever kids call it these days.

My favorite song is still Man I Need, not because it’s some kind of stomper or something alike, but it sounds like a perfect POP song (yes, pop music can be enjoyable sometimes). So does That Loneliness as it sounds like if The Beach Boys and The Beatles had a child. A dangerous comparison, I reckon, but the songwriting has these retro references and a feel good vibe with enjoyable melodies. This is obviously due to the production which used a lot of pan gimmicky in addition with shitloads of effects and samples coming out of nowhere, plunging the listener into a motley dreamworld making it irresistible to stand still and not to dance at all. Some call it Madchester but I don’t feel this music as a revival of that genre with the exception of The Throw which could be from that era, to be honest.

These blokes definitely haven’t re-invented the wheel but Howlin surely is a solid release and a pleasant surprise. You should give it a go and see them on stage anytime soon!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vU6a7Haw78]

Kraton – World Eater


September is going to be an interesting month for the Luxembourgish metal scene since there will finally be two new long-awaited releases. The first one being Kraton‘s second demo World Eater! After their first demo Ker, which was released in late 2011, the band has focussed on playing shows and writing new material. Let me just say upfront: the wait was worth the while!

For those that don’t know what the quintet does, allow me to quote the band “our music is a blend of Death, Doom and Black Metal and everything else that fits our idea of creating a dark, gritty and organic sound”. In many cases when a band writes something like that, and you listen to their stuff…it sounds nothing like the description. Such is not the case with Kraton, since their music does indeed cover the above-mentioned elements in a very refreshing manner.

The one thing that I had a hard time believing, but which is indeed true, is that the five songs have been recorded in a DIY live setup with all instruments being played simultaneously and the vocals recorded on top at a later point. My disbelief is easily explained: it sounds mindbogglingly amazing. Every single instrument can easily be distinguished in the mayhem that is World Eater, and sounds better than some professionally produced studio recording that I’ve come across. A special, albeit slightly sexist, mention to their female drummer who puts many of her male compatriots to shame with her precise play.

Obviously I can’t finish this review without losing a few words about the, in my opinion, driving force behind Kraton: Boerdi, the voice of Luxembourg. My partner in crime, Luc, praised his vocal work before and I can’t do anything else but add another layer of applause on top of it. The guy’s timbre is impossible to mistake and his vocal range is nothing short of incredible, which he proves gloriously during these twenty-three minutes. On top of that, you should have no problems figuring out the lyrics after, at the latest, the second listen-through since his perfectly articulated growls and screams are a blessing to the death metal community.

To sum things up, I’d claim that this record is not to be missed by death/black/doom metal fans or metal fans in general. Pay the band a visit on their Facebook page and get your first impressions from the song below. If you want to hear (and get your hands on) the new demo, you should go to Café All In in Luxembourg-City this Friday, where the band is hosting a listening/release party. See you there!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJLqLaDgblA]

Trash Monday LXXXII


The title and the lyrics just sum up anything I could possibly write here. Stupid comments about similarities of this guy with any writer of El Gore will be punished by a romantic weekend with Mister Chainmale.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_SRJHsjHhk]

Cloverfield

I think it’s time I admit to myself that I’m a non-ironic fan of found footage-style movies. An unsteady frame, organic characters, a decently creepy plot — throw a moderate dose of hysteria in the mix and I’m sold for the entire runtime. Oh, and an obscure or semi-obscure malicious creature helps, too.

Cloverfield fits the bill. It also had all the viral marketing and hype to build it up as the most spectacular monster/disaster/found footage movie ever prior to its release 5 years ago, which simultaneously meant that you set yourself up for a colossal disappointment if you bought into it, so I took my time until I finally decided to watch it, and I’m glad I did. Now that the fuss has long cooled off and there were no outside influences to taint my experience, I could go into it with a more open and neutral mindset than would have been possible in 2008.

There are some questions you just don’t ask when it comes to the genre, like why the characters don’t throw away their silly cameras and run in acutely life-threatening situations. The answer is because then we cinemagoers wouldn’t have the chance to be at the edge of our seats for 85 minutes, that’s why. But what I like about Cloverfield is that there are other, more interesting questions left to be discussed. Little is revealed about the monster, which leaves a lot of room for interpretation — it’s impossible not to notice a parallel to Godzilla, only instead of being an allegory for the damage inflicted on Japan by the atom bomb, the Cloverfield beast is an allegory for the damage the events of 9/11 inflicted on New York. Upon reading the synopsis on IMDB, I found out that in the end scene, when the military finds footage of the main characters on their trip to Coney Island, there is an object falling from the sky and into the ocean in the background. (I find it virtually impossible to see with the naked eye, especially if you don’t actively pay attention.) In interviews, Drew Goddard has stated that contrary to popular belief, the object is not the monster, but a satellite. The monster had been lying dormant in the ocean for thousands of years, and the satellite awakens it from its sleep.

So needless to say, there are myriads of theories by fans to be found on the Internet. I love when a film sparks speculation and debate of this kind. Cloverfield provides just the right amount of answers to prevent fun-spoiling frustration, but leaves enough mystery to stir the audience’s curiosity and investigative spirit.

I’ve heard my fair share of film buffs criticise the use of shaky cam for being a convenient way to hide violence, ill-executed CGI sequences, poor acting and stunt doubles, hindering complete immersion in the story and generally just making scenes hard to watch, but I disagree. To me, the use of shaky cam in movies like Cloverfield is nothing short of a must. When the whole population of New York city is seized with panic and fright, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be chaos; and what better way to emphasise the terror and havoc visually than by not using a tripod to shoot the movie? When a situation spins out of control to this extent, messy shots make a lot of sense. I really, really dig the cinematography, but there’s a staggering amount of people who couldn’t finish watching Cloverfield because of it, so I suppose it’s a weakness, as well. (Interesting fact: our brain shuts down our vision when we turn our head quickly — this phenomenon, known as “saccadic masking”, is the reason why the use of shaky cam in films makes so many people feel sick.)

Cloverfield is one of the better movies of the genre I’ve yet had the pleasure to encounter. It starts out rather weak by depicting the boring lives of rich New Yorkers, hits its peak when the disaster strikes and stays there for a majority of the film, and unfortunately ends on an underwhelming note, but that doesn’t significantly detract from its overall quality. It’s a thrilling watch that stayed on my mind for a while.

Serj Tankian – Jazz-iz-Christ

Serj Tankian has recorded a jazz album. So far, so good. Serj Tankian even did a pretty interesting jazz album. And as “interesting” is a damn boring word, let me try to explain why.

I’m certainly not a specialist in jazz music, so for all you connoisseurs out there, let me know if my impressions are for the birds. First of all, Tankian invited a wide range of guest musicians (probably because he isn’t a specialist either) such as, amongst others, Tigran Hamasyan, Tom Duprey, Valeri Tolstov or Troy Zeigler, which would be the first explanation for the advanced level of Jazz-iz-Christ. Besides classic jazz influences the LP combines fusion, electro, also rock, even if it is not so obvious at first listen, and also a number of oriental influences, represented for example by sitars.

The opener Fish Don’t Scream was described somewhere as a System of a Down song in disguise, and I have to say that this an appropriate way of hearing it, especially for the returning stamping parts. One could really imagine the slower jazz melodies as a reflection of a possible Tankian singing performance. The rocking elements on this album are omnipresent without pushing to the foreground at any time. The classic guitar solo in Arpeggio Bust, for instance, is perfectly fitting to the jazzy rhythm section. Moreover, there is a very concise and pushing bass line in a handful of songs.

Besides the rock influences there are especially the electronic and/or the fusion elements that produce the main groove of Jazz-iz-Christ, which generally spoken provides a wide range of musical experiences without being overcharged at any time. Most songs are instrumental; Tankian himself, or his vocals, enter the stage in song number 7, Distant Thing, a very oppressive but chilling song in which his voice and performance perfectly fits, which counts a little less for the following  Song of Sand.

The album clearly has its depressive period towards the middle, guided by melancholic vocals and instruments, combining the feeling of drinking whisky in a dark lounge and Tankian’s typical feeling for tragedy. Jinn then picks the pace up again, being a rock song at heart, and yet very hard to categorise in terms of style. Waitomo Caves would be the next creative bastard, having a 90s electro and beat box groove dancing around the classical jazz instruments. Same as the opener, the closing song Miso Soup then again can easily be defined as being a SOAD song, and this time, to make it more obvious, Tankian takes care of the vocals.

Jazz-iz-Christ is a very enjoyable, nearly 57 minutes long piece of jazz combined with like everything one could imagine, and I think one can really hear the fun the contributors were having during the recording sessions.

Confide – All Is Calm


As I said last time: post-hardcore releases are swarming in these days! Our next one is Confide‘s third album All Is Calm, which was entirely funded through Kickstarter. Three years after disbanding in 2010, the band decided to give it another go due to enormous demand from their fan base. Since I quite enjoyed their first two records, I also pledged and got my digital copy two weeks before the physical one…a nice gesture.

Remember how I said last week that almost every band one-upped their previous work this year? Well…sadly I cannot say the same about the LA based band. Don’t get me wrong though: the record is in no way bad, far from it actually, but it just lacks that little something. The music definitely feels like Confide, with its poignant mix of electronic elements into traditional instruments, but it simply follows the old formula too much for my taste. Also, this might just be me though, I have a hard time distinguishing the twelve songs since there is no real “oh yeah that song!” moment except for the song you can find at the end of this review.

The vocals have not varied much in the past years either, which is a good thing though since they always were and still are the driving force of the quintet. The only addition to the vocal arsenal are the, almost standard these days, “scratch vocals”.

While it might seem to you that I do not like this record, that is not the case…I guess I was just too hyped and was expecting the next big thing. Objectively speaking it is an album worth giving a shot, especially if you’ve never heard the band before…since it is arguably their best output. For more information you can visit their Facebook page and to get a taste, you can listen to the above-mentioned song below.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3chiacaK9BY]

Summer Break


After providing you, our beloved readers, with reviews for 31 weeks non-stop this year, we decided it’s time to take a little summer break! This means that all activity on the site will be down until the 2nd of September where we will resume in our usual rhythm! Until then: stay safe, enjoy the weather, your loved ones and cold (alcoholic) beverages! We sure will!

~The El Gore team~

Sharknado

Sharknado (2013) is a modern low-budget, disaster B-Movie directed by Anthony Ferrante and produced by the production/distribution company The Asylum, which is also responsible for Syfy trash gems like Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus (2010), Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (2011) and 2-Headed Shark Attack (2012).

Even though I am a big trash aficionado who has seen a few Asylum productions and knew what to expect more or less, those responsible go the extra mile more than once. I even have to admit that it was quite hard to imagine how they could possibly turn this movie title into a film because, let’s be honest, three hurricanes which whirl up highly aggressive and man-eating sharks sweep across Los Angeles to let the sharks rain down on the goofy residents is, even for a trash movie, quite over the top.

Sharknado is the ultimate collection of the worst of the worst. The director of photography and the post-production guys must have been high while working on this film. There is no other explanation for the dreadful, illogical, odd and redundant camera shots, cuts and transitions which, finally, are accentuated by the worst CGI effects I have ever seen. The incompetent cast nearly made me cry and Tara Reid shows us what she can do best, namely nothing. Only John Heard seems to have heard of the word “acting” before.

Sharknado is (like) a Roland Emmerich movie done without a budget, with even more awkward dialogues and stupid pseudo-trash quotes (we can’t just wait here and wait for sharks to rain down on us again). I  like the ragtagged and far-fetched premise and I stopped having strong feelings about (bad) CGI and movie mistakes in independent cinema but especially the central part of Sharknado is congested with padding material which obfuscates the trash ambience and lets the movie drift into boredom, which is fatal when it comes to B-Movies. If you decide to create something as excessive and nuts as Sharknado you have to create a humorous atmosphere and Anthony Ferrante doesn’t want to or simply isn’t capable of creating one.  As I said before, the premise is brilliant, but Sharknado wasn’t able to measure up to my expectations. Bummer!