Nai Harvest – Whatever

What is probably worse than not having a new attire for next summer? Yup, you got it, not having a soundtrack for next summer, the one steady companion for your drives to the beach or to the lake, like we do here in Luxembourg. I was worried that I would not have a cool record for this year as Wavves‘ King of the beach was growing old on me and the time was right to discover something new and fresh.

Fortunately enough, Lauren from Inception Press was kind enough to provide us with new material; this time with Sheffield’s noodly emo-punk duo Nai Harvest‘s newest release Whatever and I must say that this record’s got enough potential to become my new favourite record for the next weeks.

The opening track Whatever is a nice mix between mathy riffs and a cool apathic punk rock attitude. The vocals are everything but polished or clean but that’s what makes this band remarkably pleasant.

Floor‘s carelessness totally kicks in from the very beginning. Following the same scheme as on the first track, the track varies from a cocky beginning to a jolty drum part that is clumsy and awesome, it kinda reminds me if Blink 182 had sex with Born Ruffians, with the result being Nai Harvest.

One of my favourite tracks is Distance, etc., because it best reflects the band’s identity; which is simple, uncompromising music freshened up with a brazen attitude. Nai Harvest haven’t reinvented this famous wheel everyone’s talking about when it comes to music but they surely have their own sound and identity.

The only downside is that a lot of songs have the same structure, which is kind of a pity; as the album tends to get too repetitive but with a total playtime of 28 minutes, Whatever is just the right intermezzo between a depressive winter with lots of melancholic music and a hormone-pumped summer with too much electro and STDs and what do I know…

There might be people moaning about the band’s musical perfomance being too banal, simple or rough; but I honestly prefer to party with these guys on stage than having a wank while listening to Dream Theater. It’s all about taking the right decisions, eh?

Eric

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxxu54iIdak]

Trash Monday LX

Hip hop is dead. No; seriously guys and gals, it really is. Germany was once highly valued for its writers and thinkers but was quickly invaded by brainless sumo-zombies from planet Hippolderaan, spreading dumpishness throughout the whole republic. So much for the YOLO-caust, I guess…

(*hint* eloquence attack at 2:04 *hint* )

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F62LEVZYMog]

Familiar

Fatal Pictures is a Canadian filmmaking team consisting of producer/director Richard Powell and producer Zach Green. Familiar (2012) is their third short after Consumption (2008) and Worm (2010), neither of which I have seen so far but which I am surely going to check out in the future. For now, let us just concentrate on their most recent output.

The 24 minutes short flick is about middle-aged John Dodd (Robert Nolan) who is pretty upset, disgusted and bored with his life and role as a family man. Being a husband and father gives a lot of men a sense of security, which is not the case for Dodd, who feels stuck and despises his wife. In addition he is counting the days until his daughter is old enough to leave for college so he can be free of his family. Unfortunately for him, events don’t turn out as he imagined and the man, who tried to get his life under control, starts suspecting the negative impulses plaguing his mind may not be his own.

There are 3 main aspects which hold Familiar together and set it apart from other, moderate, or even really good short movies. First of all, and beyond all doubt, there is Nolan‘s incredible acting performance. I surely give credits to Powell for the well-written dialogues between the main character and his mind but it in the end it is Nolan who conducts these “conversations”. The switch between the “conversations” and the actual actions is never getting boring, nor superfluous or unnatural. Nolan’s acting is responsible for the weird feeling I felt throughout the whole movie. He did an amazing job!

Second, there is the work of director of photography Michael Jari Davidson and especially the Butcher Shop special effect team. Familiar is not a brutal, bloody flick per se but the team did a fantastic job at creating the physical monster growing inside Nolan. The movie has this strong Cronenberg touch and the FX team, which to be honest was my biggest fear, didn’t fuck it up but rather up the ante. The interplay of the film aesthetics, the acting and the special effects works perfectly.

Third aspect to be mentioned is the incredible turn of the movie and its smooth transition. It’s not that the turn can’t be foreseen in some way or another, but believe me when I say that it is going to be heavier as you may think. Whereas a lot of movies lose in authenticity by introducing a physical monster, Powell was able to maintain and even reinforce the specific cinematic atmosphere dominated by disease and disaster. I am sure that a lot of people made up their own interpretation of the ending and so did I but I won’t share it with you. Instead I strongly urge you to watch it!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC7vUD2OQSo]

In The Name Of – This Will All Make Sense Soon

Today’s review needs a little introduction, since in recent times I’ve never heard of this happening to a metal band, or at least it was not openly acknowledged: In The Name Of is, what you could call, a casting band. In 2010 the vocalist Tyler Small started the band, with Danny Worsnop of Asking Alexandria (fun fact: I’ve lost count of how often I’ve mentioned AA in my reviews) acting as manager. They recruited several band members over the course of, roughly, half a year and started recording almost immediately.

The first result did not impress me much, but it was just a rough edit of a song so I didn’t really lose interest in the band itself but I stopped checking their page regularly. A bit more than a year later, in late 2012, I saw that they were about to release their first record completely for free via Facebook. I was assuming that it’d be nothing more than a handful of songs but I was surprised to see that it was a full album with eleven songs. So now, without further ado, here is my review of said record: This Will All Make Sense Soon.

The album starts with a couple of acoustic chords but quickly picks up the pace with finest metalcore coming at you. The similarities between ITNO and AA are hard to miss but it’s not to the point where it’s a bother, at least to me. The guitars as well as the drums have a surprisingly good sound, considering that the band is unsigned and has only had, I’d imagine, access to limited funds. I must say that the entire production value is at a pretty sick level, another factor that made my jaw drop the first I listened through the thirty-nine minutes. The songwriting might not blow away everything that has ever been written but it’s solid, with a good sense for catchiness in the choruses, so no critique there.

The one thing that might put you off at first is the vocalist’s clean singing. It’s a bit “whiny” at first, but you get used to it quickly and, at least that was the case for me, you’ll enjoy them after, at the latest, your first listen-through of the album. His screams and growls on the other hand are on an excellent level and you’ll feel right at home. Additional support is given by Nick Arthur of Molotov Solution and Sean Neumann of This Romantic Tragedy on the songs Evoker and Discord, respectively.

To sum it up: give these guys a chance if you like the above-mentioned band or similar stuff, you will not be disappointed. And if you’ve never listened to anything of the kind, this might actually be a good start, especially since you can listen to it absolutely for free on their Facebook page. Here’s to hoping that the band is going to keep up the same level of output and possibly go on tour in the near future. They have my support for sure! You know the drill: song below if you need convincing.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzV8r5nEwQo]

The Carps’ – Gaia

The Carps’ are a Luxembourgish alternative rock trio. Or a postrock trio. Or a psychedelic jam band. Or just all of it. In fact, Gaia just does what comes to its mind from song to song, starting off with a postrock-like instrumental song, followed by a powerful alternative track, followed by an epic jam session called Maskerade (pretty fitting name, don’t you think?), and you’re going to be curious about what will hit your ears next.

Maybe a black metal outburst of hell? Well, this is a step which The Carps’ didn’t take in the end and we won’t be miffed about that. Talking about steps, one sometimes has the feeling that the boys could move even more freely than they do in the end. The jam-like fundament seems like it wants to break out way more often. Maybe this feeling is just due to the general desire for more new stuff in this monotone music world of the 21st century. And then, Gaia just casts a spell over the listener in those little corners of every song, that sometimes remind you of the playfulness of Motorpsycho. Everything is forgiven.

Also, there is that other lady which you always want to have on albums like these. What’s her name again? Groove! And those moments where groove meets progressive and experimental lands are the strongest on this 9 track LP recorded in 2010 and 2011, especially when the roaring bass guitar comes in. Yet, songs like Machine really make you curious about what would happen if the dog was fully unleashed.

We’re really looking forward to the coming creative output that this filigree band will present in the future.

It shouldn’t be necessary to mention that The Carps’ are always a worthy live experience too. Go grab their album and let’s hope they will show up again soon.

Recommendations: Maskerade, Machine, Hidden Path

Trash Monday LIX


Amazing video, hot guys and the best Guns’n’Roses cover ever. brianc1985’s comment describes it the best: “the three of them are playing 4 different songs at the same time!! how could that be possible!!” Absolutely fantastic, have a nice day!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kvJ1aceD6s]

Wrong

Wrong (2012) is a movie written and directed by French musician, director, writer, cinematographer Quentin Dupieux better known as Mr. Oizo. I’ll be honest with you, I am neither a fan of Mr. Oizo, nor did I enjoy the predecessor movie Rubber. Therefor it is no wonder that I had absolutely no expectations when it came to Wrong and I only watched it because I was staying at a friend’s house and he decided to put the movie on screen. Thank god he did! Wrong is the weirdest but best non-horror movie I have seen in 2013 so far.

The plot is about reserved Dolph (Jack Plotnick) who on one particular morning realizes that his dog has disappeared. Later on he discovers that he and his dog became part of a conspiracy which leaves him the victim of a plan mysterious forces set in motion, ostensibly for his benefit (John DeFore).

If this wouldn’t be strange enough, Dolph lives in a reversed world. On the one hand unimportant circumstances become important. Random facts like a pizza logo showing a rabbit on a scooter are flogged to death until they become significant. On the other hand Dupieux leaves the audience without any explanation about important and crucial events in the plot and the viewer, just as Dolph, becomes reconciled to the so seemed nonsense.

Right at the beginning of the movie you may cast doubt on some events but believe me, this won’t last for long and you are sucked right into the movie.

I am not sure if this is a matter of fact or only a wrong perception due to the subconscious acceptance of the paranormal and surrealistic visual narration but the uptight absurdity is kind of replaced by “simple” nonsense humour with the appearance of Master Chang (William Fichtner) in the second half of the movie. Nonetheless the important element of creative absurdity, contrary to Dupieux’ Rubber, works really well.

Wrong is a grandiose profound and bizarre nonsense comedy (with a fantastic minimalistic soundtrack) which irritates the viewer where it can. The movie is everything but mainstream but if you are into weird independent stuff you should give this a try.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HXGl7IYviM]

DillenDub – DillenDub

Here’s for something completely different. In case you’ve never heard of this band before, DillenDub (which is a clever pun for trompo in Luxembourgish) are a talented trio from Luxembourg consisting of Pol Belardi on bass and synthesizer, Jérôme Klein on the synths and Aloyse Weyler on the drums, who is also active in bands like TheCarps’ or The Majestic Unicorns from Hell.

What DillenDub actually serve is a pleasant blend of dub, mixed with some fine kraut or psychedelic elements underlined in a jazzy groundwork; you might even find a few reggae influences too. Songs like Tapir Cakewalk catch the listener’s attention from the very beginning, unfolding enough free space to slowly enter into the spell of each track. What starts slowly as an ambient, jazzy track becomes a trippy journey to what I perceive as a mild drug induced trip to lala-land, which is a very good thing.

Ford Prefect keeps the pace up, making you want to shake your moneymaker all the time, it’s just groovy as hell. I remember listening to this track for the first time and I was all upset because of the nervous synthie part but if you give this beauty a few listens it could become your potential new favourite track on the LP.

My personal favourite track is Fruity Loop. Calling it “perfect” might be a tad bit exagerated, but the synthie violins got me from the very first second. This IS my personal soundtrack to listen at sunset on the lakeside on a warm spring day, drifting along to the mellow mood of this chill masterpiece and be one with each and everything. Honestly, it reminds me of AIR during their Moon Safari period, which is very positive; AIR never sounded any better than on that album.

I will not sink in for the remaining songs and hope I made you curious enough to get DillenDub‘s self-titled debut or to see them live as soon as possible. This band has got enough potential and it would be a shame not to give credit to these talented musicians for this promising album they created!

Eric

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOWNuf3yeFA]

Rock de Stéier 2013 Concert Review

Last Saturday was an occasion for celebration in Tuntange: the 10th anniversary of the famous Rock De Stéier. This local concert has its origins in 2003 and was an annual gathering of local bands until 2006 when it went on an indefinite hiatus. The Club des Jeunes Tuntange decided to call the idea back to life this year however and put on quite a show, so it was clear that we had to make an appearance and see how it turned out.

When we arrived, The Lost Ways were already playing. This trio from Germany plays a never boring and groovy kind of rock, and managed to get us interested from the get-go. Regretfully the room was still quite empty and their main audience were the Dirty Crows. This didn’t make their performance less energetic however and it ended up being a nice gig, which would have deserved a later slot.

Sadly, we arrived a bit too late and missed the first band Weakonstruction, but after talking to their vocalist for a bit it seems that it went quite well, despite the lack of a crowd.

The next band was supposed to be All The Way Down but they had to cancel and were replaced by the mighty Los Duenos Del Ska, guess which type of music they play. The seven guys seemed a bit tired from their gig the day before which led to a slower performance than usual, at least at first. As the room started to fill up this changed however and the band regained their pace to deliver the expected goodness. One highlight during their show was the guest appearance by a random stranger (or at least we didn’t recognize him), who growled in the mic and the band played a short metal interlude. If it was unplanned, we tip our hats to them.

Quentin Lagonza, the well-known Luxembourgish rock quartet, hit the stage and opened the rush hour in Tuntange that evening. At this point the room really started to fill up but, unfortunately, nobody seemed very enthusiastic and most people just stood around having a chat. The band’s melodic stoner rock with a heavy classic rock base definately deserved more. Psychedelic parts followed  by heavier riffs, completed with a pinch of Led Zep topped off this performance, during which a glass of beer was certainly obligatory. After this was a good opportunity to grab a bite to eat however, but a small critique: the rather tasty hamburgers could have been a bit bigger though.

The fifth band were Thoughts Of The 4, a punk ensemble from the south, starting off with the words “rock’n roll!”, and that’s just what they did. A very solid performance based on alternative, pop rock and pop punk. Unfortunately the crowd didn’t really care about what was going on on stage, and a kind of fear emerged that the good old Rock de Stéier spirit had been lost over the years. Sum41 would have been proud of the four youngsters, at least.

As the evening progressed the Dirty Crows took the stage and managed to heat up the audience in a heartbeat, killing our fear about the old spirit’s destiny. People were dancing and screaming in the front rows and definitely seemed enthusiastic towards the four desert rockers, who rewarded them with a great rock’n’roll performance. Some technical difficulties with a guitar couldn’t interrupt the atmosphere either, although a bit of improvisation would have been fitting. But shit happens. As the Kalashnikov Blues led to pure madness, the action in the concert room was go!

The final band of the night was no one else but Scarred. What can we say except: perfect. The crowd was headbanging left and right, the devil horns were raised, the band killed it as always and the songs hammered everything down. The guest vocals during the song Idiosyncrasy by local superhero Boerdi were the icing on the cake.

The last two artists were Twisted Frequencies and Theodor but we decided to call it a night at that point and made room for the lovers of electronic parties.

All in all,  the organizers managed to successfully revive the spirit of the bull and we’re looking forward to next year’s edition…please change your beer though.

Report by Yannick and Denis